Dragon Warriors

An archer under a different name? Surely javelin and dagger-wielding Hunters have feelings too?

On a serious note, and if I recall correctly, the Hunter profession was indeed intended to be wider in scope than a simple archer. The wide range of archetypes within the corresponding Cadaver Draconis Paths should illustrate this concept.

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Show me the mythic legends, mighty heroes and mysterious faerie creatures!

In a way Cadaver Draconis has made it worse; it gives the impression that the only true way to the Archer profession is via the Hunter. Clearly the Archer should be a proper profession in its own right.

On the other hand, I don't have Cadaver Draconis on hand so I can't check on whether the paths to an archer-specific version of Hunter address the issues I have with it. I'll dig it up and take a look.

Cheers,

-Kyle

Certainly, that's a valid opinion - but to me, having the archer as a standalone profession would seem limiting - I'd worry that it would almost literally be one string to the bow. I'm thinking in terms of the 'typical' game environment - the adventuring type lifestyle.



If I was going to use Cadaver Draconis to try and create an archer type, I would certainly look at the Longbow-Man in the coursing paths, but I also think I'd consider the Man-at-Arms in the Knight paths. I'd take Weapon Focus in Weapon Group VI (Bow) at 1st rank, Smite at 3rd rank, Combat Instinct at 6th rank, Weapon Mastery in Weapon Group VI at 8th Rank, and Master Bowman at 9th rank.

That's a Knight's ATTACK, plus an additional +2 to ATTACK from skills with a bow, and a +1 to ABR with a bow as well.

But if this really was something I was looking at in my own games, I'd probably design a new path for it. If I did that, I probably would start with the Hunter, but would take out the Set Traps, Forage, Hunter's Mind, and False Trail skills, and would substitute in:

Weapon Focus (Group VI) as a first rank skill

Then one skill acquirable at 3rd, 6th, and 8th and each rank thereafter from the remaining Hunter list, and the following

Smite (available from 3rd) (CD26)
Earth Quiver (available from 3rd) (CD42)
Weapon Mastery (Group VI) (available from 8th) (without the Combat Instinct prereq)
Master Bowman (available from 8th)
Fire Support (available from 8th) (CD42)
Arrow Storm (available from 8th) (CD42)

And that is without creating a new skill to give even more Archery bonuses, which would certainly be doable.

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Life and Death Are Only a Dice Roll Away!

Shaun Hately
co-author A Weak Pleasure
co-author Friends or Foes
co-author Dragon Warriors Players Guide