Bowman Charger build - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Bowman Charger build

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
elkodust
Nov 27, 2009 0:51:49 Hello! This is my first post here. That is irrelevant; I need help for a build based on a prestige class obscure enough to not have much thoughts about it on the net

Said class is the Bowman Charger, from dragon magazine # 325. Theyre a mounted archery focused class, with some nifty abilities, and Im hoping to make my character as good at mounted archery as possible.

My initial thoughts on it were pretty simple. I would take a flaw and do Horselord 6 (its a barbarian variant in another dragon magazine, #337 I believe.) / Bowman Charger 10, and whatever from there. I really liked the prospect of the battle ecstacy ability. My DM already said that I could get regukar mounted archery instead of the Improved version that I would get from one of the Horselord levels, and I would take a flaw in order to make the feat requirements on time.

But, If possible, I would like to be able to play an Illumian. I think theyre pretty bad ass from an RP point of view. The thing is, I wouldnt feel good just throwing Illumian in without actually using its abilities. Looking at the runes, it seems like the only ones I would be interested involve sneak attack damage. If I did do this I would do some combination of ranger/rouge or ranger/light calvary (A scout variant in Dragon Magazine 346, my DM allowed mounted only skirmish seeing as its a mounted combant focused variant, he also said that skirmish damage would work just as well for the effect of the rune combinations). If I did the scout skirmishing would be easy enough to do, and if I did rouge, I would take the Bow Feint feat.

If I wasnt Illumian I would be a small race, just so me and my mount could fit everywhere. Id like to give my DM as little chance to separate me from my mount as possible :D .

So, after all this, I come to you with 3 questions:

1) Any interesting mount ideas? The wierder the better.
2) Is Illumian just not viable for this build at all? If so, how would you do it? If not, any small race suggestions?
3) Any overall optimization ideas, like feats and the like?
#2
gorfnad_the_shiznit
Nov 27, 2009 16:09:24 Horselord is actually in Dragon # 338. The build below is a rough build that may give you a starting point. With the build below you'll end up with a little tougher mount.

Human
1. Ranger - Weapon Focus: Composite Shortbow, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus: Handle Animal, Mounted Combat, 2x flaws
2. Ranger - B: Rapid Shot
3. Ranger - B: Endurance, Mounted Archery
4. Ranger - ACF Champion of the Wild (CC) - B: Precise Shot
5. Horselord
6. Horselord - Ride By Attack
7. Horselord
8. Horselord
9. Beastmaster - Nature Bond (CA)
10. Beastmaster (CA)
11. Bowman Charger
12. Bowman Charger - Manyshot
13. Bowman Charger
14. Bowman Charger
15. Bowman Charger - Improved Precise Shot
16. Bowman Charger
17. Bowman Charger
18. Bowman Charger - Penetrating Shot (PHBII), Ranged Weapon Mastery (PHBII), or Extra Rage (CW, set to Battle Ecstacy)
19. Bowman Charger
20. Bowman Charger

12th level effective druid for animal companion benefits at level 10 = +2 ranger + 2 horselord + 3 nature bond + 5 beastmaster. If you really want Improved Uncanny Dodge you could give up a level of Beastmaster for Horselord. However your effective druid level would drop to 11 meaning that you would loose out on the extra 2 HD, +2 Nat Armor, +1str/dex, and +1 skill trick for the mount. Sadly Bowman Charger does not advance your effective druid level. For the mount I would suggest a Magebred (ECS) Heavy Warhorse. For your favored enemy the Arcane Hunter variant from Complete Mage is always a good choice. For your bow I would suggest +X Force (MIC) Splitting (CoR) Serren Wood (BoED) Elven Craft (RotW) Mighty +X Composite Shortbow.
#3
houkama
Nov 27, 2009 16:44:51 Fleshrakers from MM3 make notoriously awesome mounts for small characters. That's all the advice I've got.
#4
elkodust
Nov 27, 2009 23:39:57
Horselord is actually in Dragon # 338. The build below is a rough build that may give you a starting point. With the build below you'll end up with a little tougher mount.

Human
1. Ranger - Weapon Focus: Composite Shortbow, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus: Handle Animal, Mounted Combat, 2x flaws
2. Ranger - B: Rapid Shot
3. Ranger - B: Endurance, Mounted Archery
4. Ranger - ACF Champion of the Wild (CC) - B: Precise Shot
5. Horselord
6. Horselord - Ride By Attack
7. Horselord
8. Horselord
9. Beastmaster - Nature Bond (CA)
10. Beastmaster (CA)
11. Bowman Charger
12. Bowman Charger - Manyshot
13. Bowman Charger
14. Bowman Charger
15. Bowman Charger - Improved Precise Shot
16. Bowman Charger
17. Bowman Charger
18. Bowman Charger - Penetrating Shot (PHBII), Ranged Weapon Mastery (PHBII), or Extra Rage (CW, set to Battle Ecstacy)
19. Bowman Charger
20. Bowman Charger

12th level effective druid for animal companion benefits at level 10 = +2 ranger + 2 horselord + 3 nature bond + 5 beastmaster. If you really want Improved Uncanny Dodge you could give up a level of Beastmaster for Horselord. However your effective druid level would drop to 11 meaning that you would loose out on the extra 2 HD, +2 Nat Armor, +1str/dex, and +1 skill trick for the mount. Sadly Bowman Charger does not advance your effective druid level. For the mount I would suggest a Magebred (ECS) Heavy Warhorse. For your favored enemy the Arcane Hunter variant from Complete Mage is always a good choice. For your bow I would suggest +X Force (MIC) Splitting (CoR) Serren Wood (BoED) Elven Craft (RotW) Mighty +X Composite Shortbow.

Wow, this is pretty well thought out. Not illumian, but pretty damn nice. I might do this with strongheart halfling if I like the fleshraker. Thanks for the build.

Any more ideas?

#5
tdsaw111
Nov 28, 2009 0:52:22 Desmondu Bat? MM2. Medium sized, good stats. No price listed to get your hands on one, but perhaps negotiation with DM will suffice?

Also, small race? Whisper Gnome. Races of Stone.
#6
gorfnad_the_shiznit
Nov 28, 2009 14:35:45

Any more ideas?

A Quiver of Anariel (towards the bottom of the page) and an item (saddle) of +10 competance bonus to Ride checks (should be 10000gp + cost of masterwork military saddle ~70gp). The higher the ride check you have the more damage you can prevent your mount from taking (see Mounted Combat feat)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 elkodust Nov 27, 2009 0:51:49	Hello! This is my first post here. That is irrelevant; I need help for a build based on a prestige class obscure enough to not have much thoughts about it on the net Said class is the Bowman Charger, from dragon magazine # 325. Theyre a mounted archery focused class, with some nifty abilities, and Im hoping to make my character as good at mounted archery as possible. My initial thoughts on it were pretty simple. I would take a flaw and do Horselord 6 (its a barbarian variant in another dragon magazine, #337 I believe.) / Bowman Charger 10, and whatever from there. I really liked the prospect of the battle ecstacy ability. My DM already said that I could get regukar mounted archery instead of the Improved version that I would get from one of the Horselord levels, and I would take a flaw in order to make the feat requirements on time. But, If possible, I would like to be able to play an Illumian. I think theyre pretty bad ass from an RP point of view. The thing is, I wouldnt feel good just throwing Illumian in without actually using its abilities. Looking at the runes, it seems like the only ones I would be interested involve sneak attack damage. If I did do this I would do some combination of ranger/rouge or ranger/light calvary (A scout variant in Dragon Magazine 346, my DM allowed mounted only skirmish seeing as its a mounted combant focused variant, he also said that skirmish damage would work just as well for the effect of the rune combinations). If I did the scout skirmishing would be easy enough to do, and if I did rouge, I would take the Bow Feint feat. If I wasnt Illumian I would be a small race, just so me and my mount could fit everywhere. Id like to give my DM as little chance to separate me from my mount as possible :D . So, after all this, I come to you with 3 questions: 1) Any interesting mount ideas? The wierder the better. 2) Is Illumian just not viable for this build at all? If so, how would you do it? If not, any small race suggestions? 3) Any overall optimization ideas, like feats and the like?
#2 gorfnad_the_shiznit Nov 27, 2009 16:09:24	Horselord is actually in Dragon # 338. The build below is a rough build that may give you a starting point. With the build below you'll end up with a little tougher mount. Human 1. Ranger - Weapon Focus: Composite Shortbow, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus: Handle Animal, Mounted Combat, 2x flaws 2. Ranger - B: Rapid Shot 3. Ranger - B: Endurance, Mounted Archery 4. Ranger - ACF Champion of the Wild (CC) - B: Precise Shot 5. Horselord 6. Horselord - Ride By Attack 7. Horselord 8. Horselord 9. Beastmaster - Nature Bond (CA) 10. Beastmaster (CA) 11. Bowman Charger 12. Bowman Charger - Manyshot 13. Bowman Charger 14. Bowman Charger 15. Bowman Charger - Improved Precise Shot 16. Bowman Charger 17. Bowman Charger 18. Bowman Charger - Penetrating Shot (PHBII), Ranged Weapon Mastery (PHBII), or Extra Rage (CW, set to Battle Ecstacy) 19. Bowman Charger 20. Bowman Charger 12th level effective druid for animal companion benefits at level 10 = +2 ranger + 2 horselord + 3 nature bond + 5 beastmaster. If you really want Improved Uncanny Dodge you could give up a level of Beastmaster for Horselord. However your effective druid level would drop to 11 meaning that you would loose out on the extra 2 HD, +2 Nat Armor, +1str/dex, and +1 skill trick for the mount. Sadly Bowman Charger does not advance your effective druid level. For the mount I would suggest a Magebred (ECS) Heavy Warhorse. For your favored enemy the Arcane Hunter variant from Complete Mage is always a good choice. For your bow I would suggest +X Force (MIC) Splitting (CoR) Serren Wood (BoED) Elven Craft (RotW) Mighty +X Composite Shortbow.
#3 houkama Nov 27, 2009 16:44:51	Fleshrakers from MM3 make notoriously awesome mounts for small characters. That's all the advice I've got.
#4 elkodust Nov 27, 2009 23:39:57	Horselord is actually in Dragon # 338. The build below is a rough build that may give you a starting point. With the build below you'll end up with a little tougher mount. Human 1. Ranger - Weapon Focus: Composite Shortbow, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus: Handle Animal, Mounted Combat, 2x flaws 2. Ranger - B: Rapid Shot 3. Ranger - B: Endurance, Mounted Archery 4. Ranger - ACF Champion of the Wild (CC) - B: Precise Shot 5. Horselord 6. Horselord - Ride By Attack 7. Horselord 8. Horselord 9. Beastmaster - Nature Bond (CA) 10. Beastmaster (CA) 11. Bowman Charger 12. Bowman Charger - Manyshot 13. Bowman Charger 14. Bowman Charger 15. Bowman Charger - Improved Precise Shot 16. Bowman Charger 17. Bowman Charger 18. Bowman Charger - Penetrating Shot (PHBII), Ranged Weapon Mastery (PHBII), or Extra Rage (CW, set to Battle Ecstacy) 19. Bowman Charger 20. Bowman Charger 12th level effective druid for animal companion benefits at level 10 = +2 ranger + 2 horselord + 3 nature bond + 5 beastmaster. If you really want Improved Uncanny Dodge you could give up a level of Beastmaster for Horselord. However your effective druid level would drop to 11 meaning that you would loose out on the extra 2 HD, +2 Nat Armor, +1str/dex, and +1 skill trick for the mount. Sadly Bowman Charger does not advance your effective druid level. For the mount I would suggest a Magebred (ECS) Heavy Warhorse. For your favored enemy the Arcane Hunter variant from Complete Mage is always a good choice. For your bow I would suggest +X Force (MIC) Splitting (CoR) Serren Wood (BoED) Elven Craft (RotW) Mighty +X Composite Shortbow. Wow, this is pretty well thought out. Not illumian, but pretty damn nice. I might do this with strongheart halfling if I like the fleshraker. Thanks for the build. Any more ideas?
#5 tdsaw111 Nov 28, 2009 0:52:22	Desmondu Bat? MM2. Medium sized, good stats. No price listed to get your hands on one, but perhaps negotiation with DM will suffice? Also, small race? Whisper Gnome. Races of Stone.
#6 gorfnad_the_shiznit Nov 28, 2009 14:35:45	Any more ideas? A Quiver of Anariel (towards the bottom of the page) and an item (saddle) of +10 competance bonus to Ride checks (should be 10000gp + cost of masterwork military saddle ~70gp). The higher the ride check you have the more damage you can prevent your mount from taking (see Mounted Combat feat)