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511 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
511 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
1.
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The ARCHER
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by
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Lenard Lakofka
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Those who are familiar with the Errol Flynn movie Robin Hood may recall a
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scene where when he kills five men-at -arms with single arrow shots, all
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within one minute (I've timed some of the missle-firing scenes ). We have
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all seen some movies in which the bow (usually the long bow) is
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fantastically accurate and deadly. This pre-conditioning, if you will,
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confuses many a new player of the D&D or AD&D game. The novice might give
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up if the leader of a group of orcs shouts out to his troops, "Stand and
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deliver!" because the player has a fear of the bow. On the other hand, the
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party might refrain from missle fire for the opposite reason: Most monsters
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met in an encounter cannot be killed by a single arrow. Are, or were,
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archers really as good as they are sometimes portrayed to be? In fact, an
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English longbowman could hit and kill a figure at a range of 400 yards!
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This was, however, the rare shot and not the rule. That fact is based on
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fire into a group of figures and rarely, if ever was such a feat achieved
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by a single shot at a lone target. The maximum longbow range in the game is
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21 inches, which equates to 630 feet outdoors - a mere 210 yards. How can
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this apparant inequity be taken care of? Well, it cannot without
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unbalancing the game. Remember that movement and spell range, say nothing
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of spell casting time, is tied to selecting distances. If bow range is
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tampered with, it will throw off the other numbers. However in the archer
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and archer-ranger subclass (described hereafter), some increase in range
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is allowed for strong characters.
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A new NPC class: Archers and Archer-Rangers
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The principle attributes of an archer are strength and dexterity, both of
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which must be 15 or better. Intelligence, wisdom, and charisma must all be
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at least 6, and constitution at least 9.Archer-rangers require even higher
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intelligence, wisdom, and constitution - a minimum of 14 in each. Archers
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and archer - rangers whose strength and dexterity are both 16 or better
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gain 10% to earned experience.
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While archers may be of any alignment, archer-rangers must be good, just
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as rangers.
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Archers can be human, elf, half-elf, or half-orc as well as some other
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humanoid races. Humanoids are limited in level as an archer as follows:
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Orcs can become 3rd level archers, gnolls can become 5th level archers,
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and hobgoblins can become 4th level archers. Kobolds, goblins, dwarves,
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gnomes, and halflings can not become archers. Only humans and half-elfs
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can become archer-rangers. Archer-rangers can be humans or half-elf.
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Archers and archer - rangers use 8 - sided dice for determination of hit
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points. At first level, two 8-sided dice are thrown, just as for the
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ranger class. All archers add 2 hit points per level after the 9th level.
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All archers may use a wide selection of armor, but the use of plate armor
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will negate an archer's "to hit" bonuses, and thus he will surely decline
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to use this type of armor. A shield can be carried, but obviously it must
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be set aside when arrows are fired.
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Archers have a great selection of weapons available, but this selection is
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not as broad as that of a fighter. They may use, in addition to their long/
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composite/ great bow, the following weapons: swords of any type, dagger,
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axes of any type, spear or javelin, darts or scimitar. Archers rarely use
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blunt weapons like a mace, hammer , or flail. Archers do not use pole arms
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except for the throwing spear. It is very rare for an archer to use a short
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bow or any type of cross bow. Archers gain no bonuses to hit or damage when
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using these latter missle weapons.
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Archers and archer - rangers have the same saving throws as fighters. They
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melee on the fighter table. All archers begin with only two weapons, a bow
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and almost always some type of sword. Thereafter they may add one weapon
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for every three levels attained, just as other fighter classes do. However,
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their non-proficiency penalty is -3. All archers can make only one
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hand-to-hand melee attack per round through the 8th level. At 9th through
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15th level, they can strike three times in two rounds. They gain two
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attacks per round only at 16th level and higher. At 7th level and above,
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archers can fire three arrows per round instead of just two. All archers
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can employ those magical items usable by all classes plus many other items
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as well. A magic bow and/or magic arrow operates at +1 in an archers hands,
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over and above any magical bonuses to hit and/or damage it may already
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have. However, elven archers do not gain this +1 to hit with a long bow
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because of their smaller than human size.
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At 9th level, an archer can establish a freehold just as a fighter can
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(see Players Handbook, page 22). However, archer-rangers cannot build such
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a freehold (PH, page 25).
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The following applies only to archer - rangers. In melee, acher - rangers
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gain +1 to damage vs "giant class" creatures, just as rangers do. An archer
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- ranger is as stealthy as a ranger and is able to track like a ranger
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does. An archer - ranger attracks a body of 2-24 followers, just as a
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ranger does. However, archer -rangers only gain druid spells, except for
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some very specific magic-user spells outlined hereafter for both archer -
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rangers and archers. Druid spells are gained at the 8th level and follow
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the chart given for rangers. An archer - ranger does not gain any special
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advantage from non-written magic items pertaining to clairaudience, ESP,
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and telephathy, such as a ranger can.
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All archers can learn some specific magic-user spells, but to do this
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intelligence must be 9 or higher. When the spell is to be taught by a
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magic-user, the archer must check to see if he can learn it, as if he were
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a magic user. Failure to succeed on this check forever negates that
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particular spell. Archers cannot read spells from scrolls in any case, and
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neither can they pen their own spells.
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Archers may use particular spells beginning at the 7th level of ability.
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The number of spells usuable and the list from which the archer may choose
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changes as the archers level increases:
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Level # of spells
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of Archer usuable Which spells possible
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7th-8th 1 Magic missle, shield
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9th-10th 2 Strength,mirror image plus above
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11th-12th 3 Flame arrow, protection from normal missles, plus above.
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13th and up 4 Enchanted weapon (bows & arrows only) plus above
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At 3rd level any archer can make arrows for his bow, assuming the proper
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raw material is obtained. He can craft a dozen arrows in an 8 hour day. At
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5th level any archer can make a long, composite, or great bow. This process
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takes 9-14 days and also assumes proper materials are at hand. A crude bow
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that is -2 to hit and from which the archer gains no bonuses whatsoever can
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be crafted in less than an hour.
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An archers major attribute is an enhanced ability to hit and damage a
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target with bow and arrow. This bonus applies only if an archer is not
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wearing plate armor, as previously noted. He must be using a well-made
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bow and well-crafted arrows. The bonus applies to any target of human size,
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and may be further modified upward or downward depending on the target size
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and relative motion of archer and target (see preceeding discussion) . The
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bonuses to hit and to damage must be awarded at each level promotion the
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archer. Remember also that a +1 bow is +2 in the hands of an archer, over
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and above any bonus given here. The same "extra +1" is true of arrows.
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Archers use the range of "point blank" in addition to the short / medium
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/ long ranges for most missles. For an archer, point-blank range is from
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10 to 50 feet. Other ranges remain the same. (Hereafter are given range
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changes for exceptionally strong characters, which may be used for archers
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at the DM's option.)
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Note: the bonus to hit / damage given below do not include the -2 and -5
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adjustments to armor class must always be applied at medium and long range,
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respectively.
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Bonus to hit / damage at the range given:
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Archer Point-blank Short Medium Long
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level Hit Dam. Hit Dam. Hit Dam. Hit Dam.
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1 +1
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2 +1 +1 +1
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3 +2 +1 +1 +1
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4 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1
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5 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1
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6 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1
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7 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1
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8 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1
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9 +5 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1
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10 +5 +5 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2
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11 +6 +5 +5 +4 +4 +3 +2 +2
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12 +6 +6 +5 +5 +4 +4 +3 +2
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13 +7 +6 +6 +5 +5 +4 +3 +2
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14 and up +7 +7 +6 +6 +5 +5 +4 +4
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No matter how well an archer is capable of shooting, a roll of 1 on the
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"to hit" die is always a miss. (Normal missle-firing troops always miss
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on a 1 or 2.) As an example of how to use the above chart, a 7th-level
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archer with a +1 bow firing a +2 arrow at point-blank range would have
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these bonuses to hit and damage: +1 for the bow and +1 more because an
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archer is firing it; +2 for the arrow and +1 more because an archer is
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firing it; plus +4 to hit due to skill and +3 damage due to skill at point
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blank range, for an overall bonus of +9 to hit and +8 damage!
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All archers, and optionally any trained figure with a long, composite, or
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great bow, can also do extra damage and gain greater accuracy through use
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of physical strength. This can only be accomplished by the use of specially
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made bows and arrows with a greater "pull." Normal bows and arrows cannot
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be used, nor can any short bows or any type of crossbow. Such a bow must
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be crafted by an archer, an archer-ranger, or an elf bowmaker who is at
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least 6th level as an archer or a fighter. Proper "long arrows" must be
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crafted by an archer, an archer-ranger, or an elf fletcher of at least 4th
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level. Ordinary fletchers can only make normal arrows.
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The strength bonuses apply to point-blank range and short range only. Full
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strength bonuses as given in the Players Handbook will apply; +3 to hit
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and +6 to damage is the maximum bonus allowed due to strength. Girdles of
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strength will not provide a further bonus for this purpose. At short
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range, the bonus to hit and damage is halved from the ammount of the bonus
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at point-blank range (fractions are dropped). This bonus for strength is
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in addition to an archers bonus for skill.
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The strength of an archer or archer-ranger may also allow for an expansion
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of of the long- range end of a bow's potential. Only specially made bows
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will give greater range. Only the top end of the long-range category is
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expanded. Medium range distance stays the same as given in the Players
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Handbook. Given below are ranges for each type of bow allowed to an archer,
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archer-ranger, or strong fighter according to the strength of the
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character. Remember, the bows and arrows must be special.
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Point Long Long Great
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Strength blank Short Medium comp. bow bow
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9-15 10-50 51-210 211-420 421-630 421-630 421-630
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16 421-630 421-640 421-630
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17 421-640 421-650 421-640
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18 (all 421-640 421-660 421-650
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18/01-50 ranges 421-650 421-670 421-660
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18/51-75 in 421-650 421-680 421-660
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18/76-90 feet) 421-660 421-690 421-660
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18/91-99 421-660 421-700 421-660
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18/00 421-670 421-720 421-660
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Only archers and archer rangers who reach 8th level or above can craft
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arrows that can later be magicked to become arrows of slaying. The magic
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must be accomplished by a magic-user the following spells: enchant an item,
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wish, and trap the soul. Fresh blood from the figure type to be slain must
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be available. Thus, it is virtually impossible to craft an arrow for use
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against a unique character like Bahamut, Tiamat, or a deity or demi-god.
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Archer or Archer-Ranger table
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8-sided
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dice for
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Experience Experience accumulated
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points level hit points Level title
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0.- 2,500 1 2 Bowman
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2,500.- 5,000 2 3 Master Bowman
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5,000.- 11,000 3 4 Fletcher
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11,001.- 22,000 4 5 Master Fletcher
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22,001.- 42,500 5 6 Bowyer
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42,501.- 92,500 6 7 Master Bowyer
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92,501.- 162,500 7 8 Sharpshooter
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162,501.- 287,500 8 9 Arrowsmith
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287,501.- 512,500 9 10 Archer
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512,501.- 850,000 10 10+2 Archer Esquire
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850,001.- 1,187,500 11 10+4 Archer Knight
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1,187,501.- 1,525,000 12 10+6 Archer Lord
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1,525,001.- 1,862,500 13 10+8 Archer Master
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1,862,501.- 2,200,000 14 10+10 Archer Grandmaster
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340,000 experience points per level for each additional
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level beyond the 14th.
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Archers and archer-rangers gain 2 hit points per level after the 9th.
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It is not uncommon for archer-rangers to have a double title, like
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Fletcher-Scout, or Ranger-Archer. Note that the ranger class title is
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given first. Any individual might only state part of his title. Note that
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the experience points necessary for each level are the same for archer or
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archer-ranger.
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(By the way, Errol Flynn's Robin Hood was an Archer Grandmaster and not a
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thief of any type. Consider Flynn's statistics as follows: Str 16, Int 17,
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Wis 15, Dex 18, Con 18, Cha 17; 14th- level Archer Grandmaster; leather
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armor+2 for AC 6; HP 110; long sword +2, long bow +3.)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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