Black Archer Prestige Class
Design Note: Derived from the Unchained Lantern Bearer Prestige Class from Milosz0pl and the Pathfinder Community Reddit’s Prestige Unchained Redux. Adapted for the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for our living world.
Prerequisites:
- Alignment: Any Chaotic, Neutral Good or Neutral Evil.
- Base attack Bonus: +3
- Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering) 4 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 2 ranks, Survival 4 ranks.
- Weapon Proficiency: Must be proficient with the bow and one martial melee weapon.
- Special: Must take vow of austerity (as the paladin vow), and vow to never smile.
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: The black archer’s class skills are Bluff, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (dungeoneering, local, nature), Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth, and Survival.
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Progression
| Lvl: | BAB: | Fort: | Ref: | Will: | Special: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +0 | Archer’s arcana, blood oath, spell potency |
| 2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Archer’s arcana, superior discernment |
| 3 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | Unbound stride, Oath of the Bow |
| 4 | +4 | +2 | +2 | +1 | Archer’s arcana, bitter armaments, fade from sight |
| 5 | +5 | +3 | +3 | +2 | Archer’s arcana, final judgement |
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A black archer gains proficiency with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, shortbows (including composite shortbows) and any weapon with the word “elven” in its name.
Archer’s Arcana (Sp) A black archer gains a series of spell-like abilities. Her caster level for these effects is equal to her character level, and the save DC is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + her Charisma or Wisdom modifier (chosen at the time of gaining this ability and once chosen it cannot be changed). To use these spell-like abilities, her chosen ability score must be equal to at least 10 + the spell-like ability’s spell level. She gains these spell-like abilities as she advances in level; usable a number of times per day as indicated.
- At Will: Dancing lights, light, and spark.
- 1st Level: Faerie fire, pass without trace, or protection from evil 3/day.
- 2nd Level: Darkvision (self only), delay poison (self only), or see invisibility 2/day.
- 4th Level: Dispel magic, or magic circle against evil (self only) 1/day.
- 5th Level: Heightened daylight, dimensional anchor, or freedom of movement (self only) 1/day.
Blood Oath (Ex): At 1st level, the black archer gains humanoid (elf) as a favored enemy. This functions as the UnRanger’s favored enemy feature with a bonus of +2; this bonus increases by +2 at 4th level. If she already has the favored enemy ability, then this becomes the dedicated adversary talent against humanoid (elf) enemies, and her black archer levels stack with levels in any other class with the favored enemy feature to determine her bonus and number of favored enemies.
Spell Potency (Su): When casting spells or using lantern arcana spell-like abilities, a black archer gains a bonus equal to her class level on caster level checks to overcome the spell resistance of drow.
Superior Discernment (Ex): At 2nd level, a black archer gains one of the following as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites: Eagle Eyes, Elven Accuracy, or Sharp Senses.
Unbound Stride (Su): At 3rd level, as a swift action, a black archer can make herself immune to effects that would impede her movement, such as overgrown foliage, solid fog, webs, or other magical area effects that impair movement or confer the entangled condition. This ability is similar in effect to a druid’s woodland stride ability, but its benefits extend to magical effects. She takes no damage from moving through spiky vegetation, briars, or effects like thorny entanglement or wall of thorns, but harmful gases and other detrimental effects, such as fire damage from an incendiary cloud, still affect her as normal. She can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to her class level; these rounds need not be consecutive.
Oath of the Bow (Ex): At 3rd level, a black archer gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls, and +1 to confirm critical hits with any bow, including composite bows. Further, she is able to treat her base attack bonus as her fighter level for the purpose of selecting weapon feats for these weapons, like Weapon Specialization.
Bitter Armaments (Su): At 4th level, arrows shot by a black archer are treated elf-bane arrows when used against drow.
Fade from Sight (Su): At 4th level, a black archer can use the Stealth skill without having anything to hide behind, and even while being observed. Activating this ability is a swift action in addition to the action required to hide. She can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to her class level + her Dex modifier; these rounds need not be consecutive but must be used in one-round increments. Attacking someone while so hidden breaks your stealth as an immediate action.
Final Judgement (Su): At 5th level, a black archer can conduct a ritual imbue an arrow as an arrow of death, granting it the power of a Slaying Arrow against humanoid (elf); this ritual requires a full-round action in which she can take no other actions, and draws attacks of opportunity; an arrow so blessed loses this property after one minute. She can use this ritual twice per day, or once per day to create a Greater Slaying Arrow.