Sharpshooter, take 2

[Andyr]

Version 1's Sharpshooter is considered by many (in reflection, including me) to be a bit on the weak side. Here is the current description:

 

SHARPSHOOTER: This sort of thief tends to be a stealthy character, preferring to engage their target from afar with bolt or arrow rather than face them in dangerous melee combat. Unlike the ranger, they use their skills to aid their dubious activities involving the property and lives of others rather than the protection of the great outdoors.

 

Although well - versed in the use of many missile weapons, the sharpshooter is not as resilient as a true warrior and the propensity for missile attacks over melee means that they lack the opportunism of other thieves when it comes to backstabbing. They tend not to see this as a disadvantage, instead striking from the shadows with a well - aimed projectile, or setting a deadly trap for those who would follow, when necessary.

 

Advantages:

-  Can attain Mastery in any missile weapon a Thief can use

-  May coat his missile weapon in poison once per day per 4 levels. Attacks made with the weapon in the next round will inject the poison into the target, dealing out 1 damage per second for 24 seconds (3 damage for the first 6 seconds).  A saving throw vs. poison limits damage to 12 total.

 

Disadvantages:

-  No backstab multiplier

 

Here's some proposals for an update. Doubtless 6oS will have something to say:

 

SHARPSHOOTER: This sort of thief tends to be a stealthy character, preferring to engage their target from afar with bolt or arrow rather than face them in dangerous melee combat. Unlike the ranger, they use their skills to aid their dubious activities involving the property and lives of others rather than the protection of the great outdoors.

 

Although well - versed in the use of many missile weapons, the sharpshooter is not as resilient as a true warrior and the propensity for missile attacks over melee means that they lack the opportunism of other thieves when it comes to backstabbing. They tend not to see this as a disadvantage, instead striking from the shadows with a well - aimed projectile, or setting a deadly trap for those who would follow, when necessary.

 

Advantages:

-  Can attain Grand Mastery in any missile weapon a Thief can use

-  Gains a +1 bonus to hit and damage with missile weapons every 6 levels

-  May coat his missile weapon in poison once per day per 8 levels. Attacks made with the weapon in the next round will inject the poison into the target, dealing out 1 damage per second for 24 seconds (3 damage for the first 6 seconds).  A saving throw vs. poison limits damage to 12 total.

-  May make a Called Shot once per day per 8 levels levels. When activated, any shot made within the next 10 seconds is augmented in the following manner:

4th level:  -1 to THACO of target

8th level:  -1 to save vs magic of target

12th level:  -1 to strength of target

16th level:  +2 bonus to damage

 

Disadvantages:

-  No backstab multiplier

-  Only gains trap useage at half the regular rate

[Idobek]

I suggest you remove the "or setting a deadly trap..." bit from the description if you are going to limit the trap gaining rate.

[Andyr]

Oh yeah, heh.

[SixOfSpades]

YAY!

 

FINALLY the Sharpshooter gets the level-based Missile THAC0 and damage that I thought were so obviously fitting. The previous version looked like the Assassin's bastard younger brother.

 

For the most part, I am happy, though I do have some thoughts: The Sharpshooter doesn't need the Poison Weapon ability, nor the Traps restriction. Compare the Sharpshooter with the Swashbuckler: Sure, the Swashbuckler is way overpowered, so we make the Sharpshooter a bit weaker--where the Swashbuckler gets +1 to THAC0 and Damge every 5 levels, the Sharpshooter gets +1 to Missile THAC0 and Damage every 6 levels, and the Sharpshooter gets no AC bonuses. Given the exact same drawback (no Backstab multiplier), that should balance out quite neatly. (The fact that the Sharpshooter can reach Grandmastery while the Swashbuckler is limited to Specialization is negligible: A whopping -1 THAC0 and -2 Speed Factor bonus.) I'm also not quite happy with the effects of Called Shot, but each class getting their own version of Called Shot is certainly a tweak that can afford to wait for a bit.

 

My ideal setup:

 

ADVANTAGES:

• Can attain Grand Mastery in any missile weapon a Thief can use
  
• Gains a +1 bonus to hit and damage with missile weapons every 6 levels
  
• May make a Called Shot once per day per 8 levels. When activated, any shot made within the next 10 seconds is augmented in the following manner:
  4th level: -1 to THACO of target
  8th level: -1 to save vs magic of target
  12th level: -1 to strength of target
  16th level: +2 bonus to damage
  

DISADVANTAGES:

• No backstab multiplier
  

[Andyr]

I quite like the idea of poison, though. Hmm. Perhaps some suggestions for the tweak to Called Shot for the kit? I don't quite know where BioWare pulled some of the abilities from (-1 save vs. magic?).

[NiGHTMARE]

A (revised) quote from an old post of mine:

 

Fighter archer (Bowman)'s Called Shot: +1 to damage every four levels

Ranger archer's Called Shot: -5% to target's missile resistance every four levels

Thief archer (Sharpshooter's)'s Called Shot: +1 to attack roll every four levels

Bard archer (Mystic Marksman)'s Called Shot: -1 to target's save vs. spells every four levels

Cleric archer (Airwalker of Akadi)'s Called Shot: +1 to attack rate every four levels

[Andyr]

I think I remember that thread. I'd like something a bit more special for the Sharpshooter, though, than just more attack roll bonuses.

[SixOfSpades]

I quite like the idea of poison, though.

And I like the idea of staying out of the Assassin's backyard. The Sharpshooter already has enough Poison opportunities with Arrows & Bolts of Biting, and Darts of Wounding. I'd mention Poisoned Throwing Daggers too, except that I think Sharpshooters should get only * in Daggers, to discourage Firetooth munchkinness as much as possible.

 

 

That list looks good, NiGHTMARE, except that the increases should take into account the fact that the classes level up at different rates. Also, didn't somebody make an Archer of Silvanus kit, a Druid that can use Bows?

 

Here's my setup (all effects apply to every shot fired within 10 seconds):

Ranger: (Entangle, Level 1 Druid spell)

Level 4: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 8: Target must Save vs. Spells with -4 bonus or become Entangled for 4 seconds

Level 12: +2 bonus to damage

Level 16: Target now must Save with -2 bonus to avoid Entanglement

 

Paladin: (Command Word: Die, Level 1 Cleric spell)

Level 4: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 8: Target must Save vs. Death with -4 bonus or fall Unconscious for 2 seconds

Level 12: +2 bonus to damage

Level 16: Target now must Save with -2 bonus to avoid Unconsciousness

 

Fighter: (HLAs of Power Attack, Smite, and War Cry cause Stun and Fear)

Level 4: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 8: Target must Save vs. Spells with -3 bonus or Panic for 3 seconds

Level 13: +2 bonus to damage

Level 18: Target must also Save vs. Spells with -3 bonus or be Stunned for 2 seconds

 

Thief: (To approximate not breaking Stealth)

Level 5: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 10: Each hit has 10% chance of rendering the Thief Invisible for 1 round

Level 15: +2 bonus to damage

Level 21: Chance of Invisibility raised to 20%

 

Bard: (Softer version of Greater Malison, weakens target's resistance to subsequent spells)

Level 5: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 10: Target's Magic Resistance is lowered by 5%

Level 15: +2 bonus to damage

Level 21: Target takes +1 penalty to its Save vs. Spells

 

Cleric / Druid: (Overcomes the 1 Bullet/round or 3 Darts/round limitation)

Level 4: -1 bonus to THAC0

Level 10: Additional 1/2 attack per round

Level 13: +2 bonus to damage

Level 14: Additional 1/2 attack per round

Note: During the Called Shot period, the Druid takes an overall +5 penalty to THAC0 and a -5 bonus to missile THAC0, effectively discouraging abusing the increased ApR for melee attacks.

 

[EDIT:]The levels listed for Cleric/Druid are the Druid levels; Clerics would gain their Called Shot improvements at levels 4, 8, 13, and 19.[/EDIT]

[Andyr]

I am not sure I like forced Invisibility, given that you don't have to be Invisible to use Called Shot. Perhaps we could have the ability turn you invisible before the shot, and do extra damage on the hit?

[yarpen]

Hey! Why he can gain Grand Mastery!! Mastery is max for a thief!!! Please return old Mastery (3 points!)

 

Called shot is so stupid. My proposition is Archer Stance (+2 to hit, damage, speed, +1 attack per round, no moving. Duration 4 rounds) What do you think about that spell/abillity?

[SixOfSpades]

I am not sure I like forced Invisibility, given that you don't have to be Invisible to use Called Shot. Perhaps we could have the ability turn you invisible before the shot, and do extra damage on the hit?

Invisibility before the shot will be broken the instant the shot is fired, and therefore pointless. I'm just trying to approximate a Thief that sneaks around, fires off a shot, and then ducks back into cover before anyone can pinpoint where the missile came from.

 

 

Hey! Why he can gain Grand Mastery!! Mastery is max for a thief!!! Please return old Mastery (3 points!)

Called shot is so stupid. My proposition is Archer Stance (+2 to hit, damage, speed, +1 attack per round, no moving. Duration 4 rounds) What do you think about that spell/abillity?

For a non-Warrior, the difference between Specialization and Grandmastery is rather trivial. So I'm quite fine with Mastery, I simply prefer Grandmastery because it makes for that extra little bit of differentiation. Compare the Fighter with the Barbarian. Because the Fighter can Grandmaster, there are many different types of Fighter: You can dualwield Axes & Warhammers, you can go Spear + Longbow, you can go all-out on Crossbow early on, you can Tank with the Sentinel + the DoE, you can become the Fastest Dart Thrower on the Sword Coast, etc., etc. But the Barbarian, limited to Specialization as he is, has to spread his weapon proficiencies out, which makes all Barbarians essentially the same: DoE in the offhand, with the FoA until you get Foebane or the AoU. That's my aim with the Sharpshooter: Limit them to Mastery, and everyone will just slap 3 points into Short Bows and Dual to Mage. Cookie-cutter characters. But just allowing them the potential to Grandmaster will encourage them to think more deeply about just where they want to take this character.

 

What is it about Called Shot that you don't like? What I don't like about Archer stance is that the essence of being a Thief is self-preservation, which makes being rooted to the ground for 24 seconds a bit of a problem when you're fighting a Dragon. I'd be more in favor of limiting the ability to 10 seconds, like the other Called Shots (or changing all of their durations to 2 rounds), and instead of making the Sharpshooter unable to move, they would take a heavy AC penalty, since they're concentrating on making a perfect shot, not watching their back.

[Andyr]

Six: I'd not thought of it like that, actually.

[Drew]

Why +1 every 6 levels? I don't think making it every five would really make him much stronger. You could just replace the called shots with uses of poison, too. Essentially, what I'd like to see is

 

ADVANTAGES:

+1 to hit and damage every five levels.

Poison use (instead of called shots) 1 time per day per 4 levels.

Alllowed to specialize in ranged weaponry.

 

DISADVANTAGES:

No backstab multiplier

Not allowed to put points into any weapon styles.

[Andyr]

Poison is what he has at the moment.

 

The per 6 levels instead of per 5 was because of... something. I don't remember why it was that exactly, but I worked it out based on the maximum bonuses being available in Tutu, SoA and ToB (as well as comparison with another kit, but I forget which).

[Drew]

I think I figured out why you made it every 6 levels, actually. The archer stops getting hit and damage bonuses around level 20. Essentially, giving the rogue a bonus every 6 levels means that when the rogue hits level 40 the hit and damage would be about even. I was thinking every 5 made more sense because it's an easier figure to wrap one's head around and it is also the same thing the swashbuckler gets. If you are going to let the sharpshooter take grandmastery than I thin every 6 levels is probably fairly balanced, but if you cut him off at specialization or mastery then every 5 levels for the damage bonus would probably be better.

 

EDIT: Regarding poison, I think you should give him just poison or just called shots. Unless you changed it, it looked like you were doing both. Not that it would stop me from using the kit if you didn't do it that way.....It looks good.