So I'm currently playing an Arcane Archer in a campaign. My main thing is that I hunt demons; however there are a few odd things about how my GM's world functions. The first is that there are no alignments and so all alignment based things have been removed from the game (yes I know this leaves a gap in quite a few things, but he's adamant about keeping the change). Second the magical effect Bane has basically been removed as well; however my GM is open to "out of the box" magical qualities for items. So my question comes down to this, "What are some good ideas for a bow that would be highly effective at slaying demons?"
MMMmm off the top of my head something like:
Link-Severing: On hit a link severing weapon imposes a -1 sacred penalty to an evil outsiders skills, multiple hits stack this penalty. If the penalty to skills is greater than the the evil outsiders Hit Dice, it is automatically dismissed back to its home plane.
Be a paladin (without the LG alignment I might add) or a ranger (favored enemy demons), Otherwise don't bother trying, bane and alignment weapons are the only way to single creatures out. Just get the usual stuff.
And it doesn't necessarily have to be all about the bow. See if your DM will let your character make (or buy) arrows that work like a "slaying arrow" but cast Banishment in stead of killing the target. Banishment is the same level spell as Finger of Death, so they are comparable.
If you don't mind me asking, if he's removed Bane, how does the Inquisitor Bane ability work? Or is there no PC Inquisitor so it's just sort of glossed over? And does the Ranger Favored Enemy class feature still work the same? Can Paladins smite evil still? Did he replace that class feature with something comparable if they can't?
If you could give a bit more detail on how your GM has modified the system, I might be able to give some more suggestions.
And what rules are you using? Core and APG? 3PP? 3.5?
Get Cold Iron. Weather on the ammo or from a special bow you homebrew that will bypass. Cold Iron is the other Demon weakness. Exploit it.
Also IIRC a +4 weapon will bypass material DR
So I'm currently playing an Arcane Archer in a campaign. My main thing is that I hunt demons; however there are a few odd things about how my GM's world functions. The first is that there are no alignments and so all alignment based things have been removed from the game (yes I know this leaves a gap in quite a few things, but he's adamant about keeping the change). Second the magical effect Bane has basically been removed as well; however my GM is open to "out of the box" magical qualities for items. So my question comes down to this, "What are some good ideas for a bow that would be highly effective at slaying demons?"
Demonseeking - Arrows fired from this bow can 'smell' the stuff all demons are made of and home in on it. Demonseeking adds +2 to hit any Demon and cancels any miss chance due to cover or visibility they may enjoy. If a demon is completely invisible to you when you fire it, choose a square. If the demon is within 4 squares of the square chosen the arrow will veer to hit the demon at their actual location.
Demonfinding -The weapon can 'flush out' Demons within 100 feet on command. (Insert your GM's values here) times per day the user can draw back the bowstring while activating this power. An energy arrow is created and shoots out, splitting into as many copies as necessary to streak out and strike all demons within 100 feet, putting a bright rune of targeting over each ones head that only the weapon wielder can see. While so affected, no demon can utilise any illusions or use stealth that would prevent them from being clearly seen by the weapon wielder. The weapon wielder gains a +10 bonus on perception checks against marked demons.
Demonwracking - Each time a demon is struck/shot by this weapon, they are seared with ever growing pain as the arrow heads bore ever deeper into their flesh and cause seering pain to wrack their bodies. Each hit requires a save vs. (insert your GM's values here) or the demon suffers a cumulative -1 to all rolls which cap at a -6.
Sacred Fire - (insert your GM's values here) per day you can call the sacred fire to light your arrows with celestially radiant flame for (Insert your GM's values here) rounds. Demons take 25% more damage from attacks with Sacred Fire Arrows, demons with the Fire subtype take 50% more damage as the mingling of sacred and infernal fire detonates within their bodies. Only the bow damage is increased, additional damage dice are not multiplied (the same as criticals). On a critical hit the bonus damage is added to the crtical multiplier (a Longbow for example would do 3.5 x damage on a crit or 4 x on a crit on a demon with the Fire subtype).
How are those?
Soooooooo there is no alignment yet Demons are running around everywhere? Are they helping rescue kittens that are stuck in trees? Bartending? A world with no concrete idea of evil...yet with demons....seems kinda a stretch. Sounds like he wanted to run a demon-based campaign but didn't want players using holy weapons, bane, or smiting his little bad guys.
Anyhow, cold iron arrows are cheap, cheap, cheap. Just stock up on those. Weapon Blanch from the APG is also awesome for archers (in case you didn't know about it....I certainly didn't till recently!)
Maybe a weapon enhancement that gives them a penalty (or forces a concentration check) to using spell-like abilities? Or inhibits their ability to summon other demons? Stops teleportation for one round?
Alright, so let me give a little more detail on the world here. After the last campaign my GM ran he decided that alignments were a role playing limiter and that he didn't like them. So he decided to remove them completely from the game. So any spells (protection from ...) and the like have been removed. Since the paladin has a few abilities that are based around alignment it is no longer a playable class nor is inquisitor. Demons are still "evil" in his world; however, there is no magic tied into the morality choices they make. We are playing using Core and APG right now.
So I'm currently playing an Arcane Archer in a campaign. My main thing is that I hunt demons; however there are a few odd things about how my GM's world functions. The first is that there are no alignments and so all alignment based things have been removed from the game (yes I know this leaves a gap in quite a few things, but he's adamant about keeping the change). Second the magical effect Bane has basically been removed as well; however my GM is open to "out of the box" magical qualities for items. So my question comes down to this, "What are some good ideas for a bow that would be highly effective at slaying demons?"
Smite GM. Best spell ever.
What's he got against the inquisitor. Nothing alignment oriented really. Not any more so than a Cleric.
Bane is +2 +2D6 damage against a target creature. In your case a Demon Slaying bow with Bane quality that applies to Demons works. It's more limited than alignment version which is Chaotic Evil Outsiders that catches more than just Demons but it should work all the same for what you want. So ask for the Bane Quality on Demons only. No alignment issue there.
From an Rp point of view a Weapon that, Kills Demons dead wether they were summoned or Called might be neat. Something that does Dimensional Anchor on hit?
This way they cant get away and that Dead means Dead will make them fear you even if it may not do alot mechanically
How about using an Oathbow as the baseline and adding bane and alignment traits ?
Alright, so let me give a little more detail on the world here. After the last campaign my GM ran he decided that alignments were a role playing limiter and that he didn't like them. So he decided to remove them completely from the game. So any spells (protection from ...) and the like have been removed. Since the paladin has a few abilities that are based around alignment it is no longer a playable class nor is inquisitor. Demons are still "evil" in his world; however, there is no magic tied into the morality choices they make. We are playing using Core and APG right now.
You may want to explain to your DM how alignment works. You act a certain way your a certain alignment, you change how you act your a different alignment. How is this limiting?
monks druids and barbarians are also alignment restricted, are they out? And alignment determines which arcane spells you can use, are arcane casters out too? Channel energy is determined by alignment, clerics wouldn't work either....
So we have rogue, ranger, and fighter. Go ranger and just make use of favored enemy demons