Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ghenesh 02-03-07, 02:37 PM	The Arcane Archer (AA) is one of the oldest prestige classes out there, at the same time one of the lamest, a gish can make a better job at that, and half of its class features are plain obsolete and perfectly convertible to spells (Seeker arrow, Hail of arrows and Phase arrow) if they aren't already. Table: The Arcane Archer Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +1 +2 +2 +0 Imbue arrow, Enhance arrow +1 2nd +2 +3 +3 +0 +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class 3rd +3 +3 +3 +1 Enhance arrow +2 4th +4 +4 +4 +1 +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class 5th +5 +4 +4 +1 Enhance arrow +3 6th +6 +5 +5 +2 +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class 7th +7 +5 +5 +2 Enhance arrow +4 8th +8 +6 +6 +2 +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class 9th +9 +6 +6 +3 Enhance arrow +5 10th +10 +7 +7 +3 Arrow of death, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class Imbue Arrow (Sp): At 1st level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place an area spell of lower level than her Arcane Archer level and a casting time equal or less than a full round action upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell’s area is centered on the spacial point where the arrow hits, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow’s range rather than the spell’s 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 and must hit its target, or the spell is wasted. If this has been done before i offer my apologies, but i haven't found a spellcasting variant to the AA on this forums. The features that i haven't listed in here are obviously the same as the original version (founded in the Dungeon Master Guide and the SRD Core Rules).
StevenO 02-03-07, 11:37 PM	So, you take what can be considered a weaker PrC, remove three once per day abilities, add FIVE spellcasting level increases and move what some people consider the AA's primary ability up to first level. I'd have to say no or at least not needed. If you want to continue being a good spellcaster just take one of the current crop of PrCs and dip into AA if you really want imbue arrow. Most "Gish" types work just as well with a bow as a melee weapon and I consider Imbue Arrow to often be the most useless ability of the class.
Ghenesh 04-17-07, 01:43 PM	So you didn't like it?
Empiro 04-17-07, 01:58 PM	I think this is a simple, but proper change. Any 1/2 casting PrC always relegates the character into a support casting role. The +1 to arrows is nice, but at the end of the day, it really just saves your Cleric a casting of GMW (combined with a pearl of power). The Arcane Archer previously wasn't absolutely terrible, but no one actually bother using the "arcane" part of the class.
j_gunder 04-17-07, 09:59 PM	There's absolutely no reason to take more than the first two levels of the PrC as you've written it--imbue arrow is nice to grab on a dip for gish-y characters, the second level increases your CL...after that, just jump into another full caster-level progression PrC and shoot your imbued arrows all over the place, essentially increasing the range of every spell you cast to "as far as you can hit an AC 5 patch of ground with a ranged attack." There's enough PrCs with no reason to commit to already.
Ghenesh 04-18-07, 12:46 AM	There's absolutely no reason to take more than the first two levels of the PrC as you've written it--imbue arrow is nice to grab on a dip for gish-y characters, the second level increases your CL...after that, just jump into another full caster-level progression PrC and shoot your imbued arrows all over the place, essentially increasing the range of every spell you cast to "as far as you can hit an AC 5 patch of ground with a ranged attack." There's enough PrCs with no reason to commit to already. Well... you might not have read carefully the subtle change i made to the Imbue Arrow feature, in this variant it is level dependant: Imbue Arrow (Sp): At 1st level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place an area spell of lower level than her class level... Anyway, i'll take your comment as the class is not overpowered (wich is my concern).
j_gunder 04-18-07, 02:23 AM	Do you mean "lower than your arcane archer level" perhaps? "Lower than your class level" doesn't really hinder the imbue arrow ability, as it still gets more powerful as you level (no matter what class you take levels in). If it's the former, then you're right--it's a solid reason to stay in the PrC. It's not over-powered at all...many, I'm sure, would argue that is still under-powered as you can create a gish with +16 BAB and CL 18 without much of a problem at all...and anyone would take that over the ability to add some spells to an arrow and shoot magic arrows all day. In a limited environment, though, like core-only...it's a nice step up in power for the arcane archer.
Ghenesh 04-18-07, 08:34 AM	Thanks for the correction. And yes, it's only meant to take out the class from lameness. I don't know if it's still underpwered, after all it's a half caster with full BAB.