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Requirements- INT9, DEX13
Prime- DEX
HD-d6
Max. Level-10
XP- as Fighter
Saves-Elf

Armor-Chainmail or lighter
Weapons- Longbow, small/medium melee weapons-no bigger then long sword

Some Elves disdain learning magic & spells, instead choosing to special in the traditional Elf missile weapon-the Longbow. Elven Archers concentrate on practicing archery, above all other things. The Elven Archer is deadly accurate, especially at close range.

Master Archer- +1 hit +1 damage with Longbow

Point blank shot- within 30 feet or less an Elven Archer gains another +1 hit & +1 damage

Archery before all other things- the Elven Archer practices with his bow constantly, but such specialization has a price. The Archer is -1 hit with all melee weapons and gains no magic spells.

Bowyer/Fletcher- the Elven Archer can make arrows & even a new bow if he has enough time/materials. He is an expert on the making & the quality of bows/arrows.

Elf racial abilities- infravision, detect secret doors, immune to ghoul paralyzation, languages

I like this a lot; trading the spell usage for weapon specialization is great, though I think there are too many bonuses here, and using the fast Fighter XP progression makes the class too powerful too fast.

At what levels were you going to roll out those special abilities? Perhaps you should add a second attack at a certain level to keep it on a par with a Fighter?

Oh, one other question: Were you intending to only use this for Elves, or would Half-elves qualify?

I would consider increasing the max level to 12, since they are more specialized than the core elf class. I'm not really a fan of the Point Blank Shot - we're talking a lot of stacking bonuses here (Dex to hit, Master Archer to hit and damage, Short range to hit, and point blank shot).

Dyson Logos wrote:I would consider increasing the max level to 12, since they are more specialized than the core elf class. I'm not really a fan of the Point Blank Shot - we're talking a lot of stacking bonuses here (Dex to hit, Master Archer to hit and damage, Short range to hit, and point blank shot).

I agree with the bonuses. Perhaps scaling back the bonuses, making them available at certain levels, changing the XP progression from Fighter to Elf in order to balance the XP cost vs having to purchase/create magic items, and adding a 2nd attack at max level?

Keep the ideas coming- I want to balance it out. Work in progress.

Okay, just spit-balling here:

Some Elves disdain learning magic & spells, instead choosing to specialize in the traditional Elven missile weapon:the Longbow.
Elven Archers concentrate on practicing archery, above all other things. The Elven Archer is deadly accurate, especially at close range.

ELVEN ARCHER
Requirements- INT9, DEX13
Ability Modifiers (If using AEC): DEX +1, CON -1
Prime- DEX (LL Core rules; Min/max ability scores as per the Elf if using the AEC)
HD-d6 (+2hp/level only from levels 10-12)
Max. Level-12
XP- as Elf (LL Core rules)
Saves- as Elf (LL Core rules)
Elf racial abilities- infravision, detect secret doors, immune to ghoul paralyzation, languages (LL Core rules)

Armor-Chainmail or lighter; shields and bucklers are not permitted
Weapons- Elvish Longbow, small melee weapons (-1 to hit; see below)

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

LEVEL 1
Bowyer/Fletcher- From birth, the Elven Archer learns the art and craft of bowmanship. The Elven Archer can make arrows & even a new bow if he has enough time/materials. He is an expert on the making & the quality of bows/arrows. (AEC ONLY; this counts as a Secondary Skill, per the AEC and with DM permission)

Heirloom - The Elven Archer begins play with an Elvish longbow at no charge.

Archery before all other things- the Elven Archer practices with his bow constantly, but such specialization has a price. The Archer suffers a -1 penalty to hit with all melee weapons and gains no magic spells.

LEVEL 9
Master Archer (Optional)- +1 to hit when using an Elvish longbow; this bonus does not apply when using any other type of ranged or melee weapon; this is in exchange for gaining a stronghold/followers. The player may select either stronghold/followers or Master Archer. If taken, this bonus stacks with any other ranged attack bonuses the Elven Archer gains with an Elvish longbow.

LEVEL 12
Many Shot - A lifetime of bow fighting has enabled the Elven Archer to draw faster than the eye can follow; at 12th level, the Elven Archer gains an additional attack per round.

I like it. The concept of an elf using archery rather than magic fits a lot of characters in literature (particularly Tolkien).
I actually think on first glance the first version seems ok. There are enough restrictions to make it comparable to either a human fighter or dwarf in power per level - the d6 rather than d8 hp, no plate mail or shields and -1 to hit in melee, which is sometimes unavoidable balances things out in my opinion. Of course, playtesting would be a good idea.

You make the Elven Longbow sound like something uber (through the heirloom thing) although you don't provide any stats for it. To be honest, I prefer that it have the same rules as any longbow to prevent the old "elven stuff is better" thing that we saw a lot in some of the editions and supplements of the original game.

Dyson Logos wrote:You make the Elven Longbow sound like something uber (through the heirloom thing) although you don't provide any stats for it. To be honest, I prefer that it have the same rules as any longbow to prevent the old "elven stuff is better" thing that we saw a lot in some of the editions and supplements of the original game.

I like the fact that it's a standard long bow ... just made by, and for, elves. Otherwise, nothing special about it, 'cept that it's free and may have special significance to the player.

I like the class as revised, but I would add back the 'point blank' range category at level 1 with a +1 to hit only in that range. Gives the player a little something not too powerful to start off with. Either that or add damage bonus from 1st level. Many who take the class would already have to hit bonuses from DEX anyway.