Peerless archer is the pinnacle of skill when it comes to raw archery. They have spent countless years and arrows honing their craft to the finest point, pointier than the tip of an arrow even. They gain the ability to sneak attack their foes even at distance and at far range. Not only can they do that, they can also reduce the cover and concealment of their foes, and notably they become experts at crafting their own magical arrows. They further gain power on their bows and can reduce their accuracy to shoot for more damage. They are so powerful with a bow they are just as threatening as a man with a sword 5 feet from you.

Role: DPS

Characteristics: {{{Description}}}

Source: Silver Marches

Game Rule Information

The Peerless Archer has the following game statistics.

Abilities: {{{Abilities}}}

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d10

Starting Gold: N/A

Class Skills

The Peerless Archer's class skills are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (bowmaking) (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Peerless Archer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Peerless Archer is proficient with whatever they were already proficient with prior to taking levels in this class.

Expert Bowyer Ex: A peerless archer understands her weapon on a fundamental level that most trained soldiers never achieve. At 1st level, an archer gains a +3 bonus on all Craft (bowmaking) skill checks.

Ranged Sneak Attack Ex: When wearing light armor or no armor, a peerless archer can draw and fire in a split second, catching her targets unawares. She loses this special ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor. At 1st level, a peerless archer gains the ability to execute a ranged sneak attack if she catches an opponent unable to defend himself from attack. Any time the peerless archer's opponent would be denied his Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (whether he actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), the peerless archer's ranged attack deals +1d6 points of extra damage. This extra damage increases to +2d6 at 4th level, +3d6 at 7th level, and +4d6 at 10th level. Should the peerless archer score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. It takes precision and penetration to hit a vital spot, so her ranged attacks can only count as sneak attacks if the target is no farther than 30 feet away. A peerless archer can only sneak attack living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to strike. Additionally, any creature immune to critical hits is similarly immune to sneak attacks. The peerless archer must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot. The peerless archer cannot sneak attack while striking at a creature with concealment (unless her sharp shooting ability overcomes the concealment; see below) or by striking at the limbs of a creature whose vitals are not in her line of sight. If the peerless archer gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.

Sharp Shooting Ex: A peerless archer's skill with her bow allows her to strike accurately at foes, even when they are attempting to take advantage of cover or concealment. Beginning at 2nd level, a peerless archer's targets receive cover or concealment one step worse than they should. For example, a target with three-quarters cover is treated as if he had one-half cover. At 5th level, a peerless archer ignores two steps of cover or concealment, so the same target would be treated as if he had one- quarter cover instead of three quarters cover. At 9th level, a peerless archer ignores three steps of cover or concealment. This ability has no effect against foes with total cover.

Fletching Su: At 2nd level, a peerless archer gains the ability to create magic arrows (and only arrows) with a +1 enhancement bonus, as if she possessed the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat and met all other requirements for the arrow she wishes to make. At 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th levels, the bonus of the arrows she can create with this ability increases to +2, +3, +4, and +5, respectively.

Crafting Arrows: Crafting a masterwork arrow requires 5 gp in materials, a workshop of some kind, and two days per arrow (this is an approximation of average results of the Craft skill; if you wish to calculate exactly how long it takes, refer to the Craft skill description).

Enhancing Arrows: In addition to the arrows to be crafted, a peerless archer must use materials and spend XP to create arrows with an enhancement bonus, as shown below in Table 1-2.

Power Shot Ex: At 3rd level, a peerless archer learns how to make devastatingly powerful bowshots. On her action, before making any attack rolls, she may choose to subtract a number from all ranged attack rolls and add the same number to all ranged damage rolls. This number may not exceed her base attack bonus. The penalty on her attack rolls and bonus on her damage rolls apply until her next action.

Threaten Ex: At 8th level, a peerless archer gains the ability to threaten nearby areas with her bow, as if she were wielding a melee weapon when wearing light armor 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.