[edit] Bow Master

A Bow Master is the epitome of ranged weapon combat, his abilities with the bow are the stuff of legends and bards sing of their astonishing deeds. The Bow Master achieves his skill through dedication to his chosen weapon. To Bow Masters the act of fighting with a bow is not a choice of combat style, it is an art form that very few can appreciate. No matter what the pursuit of making their bowman ship an art form is what drives to search for battle.

Adventure: Bow masters view adventure as a chance to polish their skills and earn some gold at the same time. A bow master is never found wanting for a job as they always find an employer whose more than willing to hire them. Bow masters, in short, are either elite mercenaries who fight for gold or dedicated protectors of an area they consider important. However, in both cases they pursue total mastery of their art.

Characteristics: The most important ability of a bow master is his mastery of ranged combat, the bow master aims to end all engagements with his opponent never reaching him in close quarters because as long as he has range he can win. The bow master is prepared to fight all odds to win and has trained with the mindset that he will have no allies to assist him when fighting a band of foes.

Alignment: A bow master is eternally filled with wanderlust, always wanting to see new places and meet knew people (or feather them). This leads to a slight inclination towards chaotic instead of lawful. In his travels a bow master tends to defend the powerless rather than attack them leading to most bow masters being good instead of evil. However, bow masters come in all alignments and are not restricted to chaotic good, it's just the most common.

Religion: There is no set religion for bow masters, usually those who become bow masters continue to worship their base class deity.

Background: Usually it is rangers, fighters, and scouts that become bow masters. However there are a few ninjas and rogues who have also joined the ranks of the bow master, probably because they enjoy the ability to kill their foes over great distances. Who ever aspires to be a bow master is usually taught by another bow master, resulting in very few bow masters throughout the world due to the difficulty in finding a bow master willing to teach you.

Races: Humans, the versatile creatures that they are, approach the bow master class in the hopes of mastering the art of ranged combat. Elves, with their views of archery of as an art form see the bow masters as kindred in this regard and eagerly try to learn what they have mastered. Half-elves are attracted for both of these reasons. Halfings and half-orcs rarely become bow masters, halfings because a bow master is too famous, and half-orcs because of a lack of close range combat. Gnome bow masters enjoy the notoriety that follows bow master and will sometimes showcase his abilities as a performance, however this is not the norm. The few Dwarves that become bowmasters usually become famous for closely guarding their secrets.

Other Classes: The Bow master class is surrounded by superstition and mystery, as rumors claim that Bow masters can hit an ant across a forest and fell hundreds of men charging a hill with merely a dozen bow masters. Bow masters do nothing to disavow those rumors knowing that they merely intimidate their opponents and shroud their perceptions of the truth. As a result, many view the bow masters in awe or disbelief, and quickly ask them to display their legendary prowess, a request which bow masters usually refuse.

Role: A bow master should never be seen on the front lines, the bow master takes advantage of distance to feather their enemies before they even reach them. Their mastery of the bow allows them a lot of flexibility when attacking with a bow as they quickly gain range feats. Their true strength is revealed at level 6 where they receive the Sniper ability allowing to disregard the range increment penalty.

[edit] Prerequisites

Base Attack Bonus: +6

Feats: Weapon Focus(longbow) or Weapon Focus(shortbow), Point Blank Shot or Rapid Shot, Run, Dodge

Skills: Spot 4 ranks, Listen 4 ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks

[edit] Class Features

All the following are class features of the Bow master:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bow masters gain no proficiency with any new weapons and armors

Levels in Bow Master counts as levels in fighters when determining feat selection.

Quick Shot (Ex): The Bow master's ability to quickly fire arrows prevents his ranged attacks to provoke attacks of opportunity

The Essence of Speed (Ex): A Bow master ignores the -2 penalty for arrows using the Rapid Shot feat.

Curve Shot (Ex): The Bow master bow will slightly curve to follow the path of an enemy, effectively adding a +2 modifier to his attack roll and +1 modifier to damage.

Sniper (Ex): A Bow master practices at always hitting his target no matter the distance. You ignore range penalties up to two times the range increment.

Bounce Shot (Ex): The Bow master can bounce his arrows of objects such as shields, rocks, or trees to hit a target, if the target can not see the bow master fire he is considered flat-footed. For each additional bounce after the first two bounces you suffer a -2 modifier to attack roll and a -2 modifier to damage.

Maestro (Ex): The Bow master's intense dedication to his training has finally paid off. He is now a Maestro of the art of Bow. The Bow master ignores the cumulative -2 penalty of the Manyshot feat.

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