From: "Speedy D." <398969729%UWPLATT.EDU@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject:      The Archer Class


A New Class:  the Archer and Archer-Ranger
------------------------------------------

     The principal attributes of an archer are strength and dexterity, both of
which must be 15 or better.  Intelligence, wisdom, and charisma must all be at
least 6, and constitution at least 9.
     Archer-Rangers require even higher intelligence, wisdom, and constitution
-- a minimum of 14 in each.  Archers and archer-rangers whose strength and
dexterity are both 16 or better gain an additional 10% to earned experience.
     While archers may be of any alignment, archer-rangers must be any good
alignment, just as rangers.
     Archers can be human, elf, half-elf, half-orc, as well as some other
races.  Humanoids are limited in level as an archer as follows:  Orcs can
become 3rd-level archers, hobgoblins can become 4th-level archers, and gnolls
may advance as high as 5th-level archers.  Kobolds, goblins, dwarves, gnomes,
and halflings cannot become archers.  Only humans and half-elves can become
archer-rangers.
     Archers and archer-rangers use 8-sided dice for figuring hit points.  At
first level, two eight-sided dice are rolled, just as for the ranger class.
All archer-classes add two hit points per level after the ninth.
     All archers may use a wide selection of armors, but the use of plate armor
will negate an archer's "to-hit" bonuses, and thus an archer will almost always
decline to use this type of armor.  A shield may be carried, but obviously it
must be set aside when arrows are to be fired.
     Archers have a great selection of weapons available, but this selection is
not as great as that of a fighter.  They may use, in addition to their bow, the
following weapons:  swords of any type, daggers/knives of any type, axes of any
type, spear or javelin, darts, or scimitar.  Archers rarely use blunt weapons
in the mace/hammer category.  Archers do not use pole arms except for the
throwing spear.  It is very rare for an archer to use a short bow, or any type
of crossbow, as archers gain no bonuses to-hit or damage when using either of
these weapons.
     Archers and archer-rangers have the same saving throws as fighters, and
they attack from the same tables.  All archers begin with two weapons:  a bow,
and almost always some type of sword.  Thereafter, they add one weapon for
every three levels gained.  However, their non-proficiency level is -3, not -2.
All archers make attcks at 1/1 through the 8th level.  At the 9th through 15th
levels, they attack at 3/2.  At 16th level and higher, they get 2/2.  At
7th level and above, archers fire arrows at 3/1 instead of just 2/1.  All
archers employ those magic items usable by all classes, plus many other items
as well.  A magic bow/arrow operates at +1 (To-hit and damage. -- ED.) in any
archer's hands, over and above any bonuses the archer already has.  However,
elven archers do not gain this +1 because of their smaller than human size.
(The DM may choose to ignore this rule for elves 5'10"/160 lbs. and up. -- ED.)
     At ninth level, an archer can establish a freehold, just as a fighter can.
(Player's Handbook, pg. 22. -- ED.)  However, archer-rangers cannot build such a
freehold.  (Player's Handbook, pg. 25 -- ED.)
     The following applies only to archer-rangers.  In meele, archer-rangers
gain +1/level damage vs. "giant class" creatures, just as rangers do.  An
archer-ranger is as stealthy as a ranger, and is able to track just like a
ranger does.  An archer-ranger attracts a body of 2-24 (2d12) followers, just
as a ranger does.  However, archer-rangers gain only druid spells, except for
some very specific magic-user spells (outlined below) for both archers and
archer-rangers.  Druid spells are gained at 8th level, and follow the charts
given for rangers.  An archer-ranger does not gain any special advantage from
non-written magic items pertaining to clairaudience, clairvoyance, ESP, and
telepathy, such as a ranger can do.
     All archers can learn some magic-user spells, but to do this, intelligence
must be of 9 or better.  When the spell is to be taught by a magic-user to the
archer, the archer must make a check to see if he can learn it, just as a
magic-user must.  Failure to succeed on this check forever negates any chance
of learning that particular spell.  Archers cannot read spells from scrolls in
any case, and they can never learn to write their own scrolls.
     Archers may use certain spells, beginning at the 7th level of ability.
The number of spells usable and the list from which the archer may choose from
changes as the archer's level increases:


     Level     # gained    Possible spell list
     -----     --------    -------------------
    7th-8th       one      Magic Missile, Shield
    9th-10th      two      Strength, Mirror Image, plus above
   11th-12th     three     Flame Arrow, Prot. vs. Normal Missiles, plus above
  13th and up     four     Enchanted Weapon (bows and arrows only), plus above

     (I suggest using some of the spells out of the other books [such as
Unearthed Arcanum] such as Flaming Sphere, Melf's Acid Arrow, and Melf's Minute
Meteors. -- ED.)


     At 3rd level, any archer can make arrows for his bow, assuming the proper
raw material is at hand.  The archer can craft up to 12 arrows in an 8-hour
day.  At 5th level, any archer can make a long, composite, or great bow.  This
process takes 9-15 (d6+8) days, and assumes raw materials are on hand.  A crude
bow that is -2 to-hit and from which the archer gains no bonuses can be crafted
by an archer in less than an hour.
     An archer's major attribute is an enhanced ability to-hit and damage with
bow and arrow.  This bonus applies only if the archer is not wearing any
"plate" type armor.  The bow and arrow must be well-crafted.  The bonus applies
to any human-sized target, and relative motion of archer and target.  Bonuses
to-hit and damage are awarded at each level gained by the archer.  Remember,
also, that a +1 bow is +2 in an archer's hands, over and above any bonuses
given in this article.  The same "extra +1" is true for arrows.
     Archers use the range of "point-blank" in addition to the normal ranges.
For an archer, point-blank range is 10-50 feet.  Other ranges remain the same.
NOTE:  These bonuses are only for non-exceptionally strong characters.  They
use another table in-addition to this one, both of which are given hereafter.


                    Bonus to-hit/damage at given ranges:
     Archer      Point-Blank    Short       Medium       Long
     Level        Hit  Dam.    Hit  Dam.   Hit  Dam.   Hit  Dam.
     ------       ---  ----    ---  ----   ---  ----   ---  ----
       1          +1
       2          +1    +1     +1
       3          +2    +1     +1    +1
       4          +2    +2     +1    +1    +1
       5          +3    +2     +2    +1    +1    +1
       6          +3    +3     +2    +2    +1    +1    +1
       7          +4    +3     +3    +2    +2    +1    +1
       8          +4    +4     +3    +3    +2    +2    +1    +1
       9          +5    +4     +4    +3    +3    +2    +2    +1
      10          +5    +5     +4    +4    +3    +3    +2    +2
      11          +6    +5     +5    +4    +4    +3    +2    +2
      12          +6    +6     +5    +5    +4    +4    +3    +2
      13          +7    +6     +6    +5    +5    +4    +3    +2
      14 and up   +7    +7     +6    +6    +5    +5    +3    +3


     No matter how well an archer is capable of shooting, a roll of 1 on the
to-hit die is always a miss (normal missile firing troops miss on a 1 or a 2).
     All archers, and optionally any trained figure with a long, composite, or
great bow can also do extra damage and gain greater accuracy through the use of
physical strength.  This can only be done by the use of specially made bows and
arrows with a greater "pull".  Short bows and any type of crossbow can never
be used for this purpose.  Such a bow must be crafted by an archer,
archer-ranger, or an elven bowmaker of at least 6th level as an archer or
fighter.  Proper "long arrows" must be crafted by an archer, archer-ranger, or
elven fletcher of at least 4th level.  Ordinary fletchers can only make normal
arrows.
     The strength bonuses apply only to point-blank and short ranges.  Full
strength bonuses apply as given in the Player's Handbook will apply:  +3 to-hit
and +6 damage are the maximum bonuses allowed due to strength.  Girdles of
Strength will not provide a further bonus for this purpose.  At short range,
the bonus to-hit and damage due to strength is halved from the amount of the
bonus at point-blank range.  Fractions are dropped.  This bonus for strength is
in addition to an archer's bonuses for level skill.
     The strength of an archer or archer-ranger may also allow for an expansion
of the long range of a bow.  Only specially made bows will give greater range.
Only the top end of the long range category is expanded.  Given below are the
ranges for each type of bow allowed to an archer, archer-ranger, or strong
fighter, according to the strength of the player character.  Remember, the bow
and arrows must be special.


                Point-                      Long      Long      Great
     Strength   blank   Short   Medium   Composite    Bow       Bow
     --------   ------  -----   ------   ---------   -------   -------
      9-15      10-50   51-210  211-420   421-630    421-630   421-630
       16                                 421-630    421-640   421-630
       17                                 421-640    421-650   421-640
       18 01-50         (all              421-650    421-670   421-660
       18 51-75          ranges           421-650    421-680   421-660
       18 76-90          in               421-660    421-690   421-660
       18 91-99          feet)            421-660    421-700   421-660
       18 00 and up                       421-670    421-720   421-660


     Only archers and archer-rangers who reach the 8th level (or above) can
craft arrows that can later be magicked to become Arrows of Slaying.  The magic
must be accomplished by a magic-user with the following spells:  Enchant An
Item, Wish, and Trap The Soul.  Fresh blood from the figure type to be slain
must be on hand.


Archer/Archer-Ranger Experience Table
                                        8-sided
                                        dice for
     Experience       Experience       accumulated
       Points            Level         hit points      Level Title
     ----------       ----------       -----------     -----------
       0-2500              1                2          Bowman
     2501-5000             2                3          Master Bowman
    5001-11,000            3                4          Fletcher
   11,001-22,000           4                5          Master Fletcher
   22,001-42,500           5                6          Bowyer
   42,501-92,500           6                7          Master Bowyer
   92,501-162,500          7                8          Sharpshooter
  162,501-287,500          8                9          Arrowsmith
  287,501-512,500          9               10          Archer
  512,501-850,000         10               10+2        Archer Esquire
 850,001-1,187,500        11               10+4        Archer Knight
1,187,501-1,525,000       12               10+6        Archer Lord
1,525,001-1,862,500       13               10+8        Archer Master
1,862,501-2,200,000       14               10+10       Archer Grandmaster


     340,000 experience points per level for each additional level beyond the
14th.  Archers and Archer-Rangers gain 2 hit points per level after the 9th.

     It is not uncommon for archer-rangers to have a double title, such as
Fletcher-Scout, or Ranger-Archer.  Note that the Ranger class is given first.
Any individual might only state part of his title.  Note that the experience
points necessary for each level are off the same table for either an Archer or
an Archer-Ranger.

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     By the way, Errol Flynn's Robin Hood was an Archer-Grandmaster, and not a
thief of any type.  Consider his stats as follows:

     Str:  16          14th level Archer-Grandmaster
     Int:  17          Leather Armor +2 (AC 6, AC 2 with Dex. bonuses)
     Wis:  15          Hit points:  110
     Dex:  18
     Con:  18          Long Sword +2
     Cha:  17          Long Bow +3


