I've been making a new class, but I've only once tested it, but there was nearly no combat in that, so can some people help balance it?
(It's rather situational at the moment)
Sniper
A watchful hunter, unseen from yards away. Silent mercenaries, snipers are true glass cannons, picking off the most powerful enemies from the sidelines. Their long range allows them to kill while staying hidden. As long as they have time, they will hit. Watch out next time you walk outside. That breath might be your last…
Role: Snipers attack the enemies from the sidelines, trading quantity for quality. They can master any fighter at a range, but get close, and the sniper’s doomed. Stay safe…
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d6
Class Skills
The sniper’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Dex), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Perception (Wis) and Profession (Wis), Stealth (Dex).
Skill Ranks per Level 2 + Int modifier.
Table
Level 1st
Bab +1
Fort +0
Ref +2
Will +0
Ranged Master +5 ft, I Always Hit my Mark
Level 2nd
Bab +2
Fort +0
Ref +3
Will +0
Death Shot +1d8,
-
-
Level 3rd
Bab +3
Fort +1
Ref +3
Will +1
Ranged Master +10 ft, Weapon Focus
-
-
Level 4th
Bab +4
Fort +1
Ref +4
Will +1
Death Shot +1d8 +2d4, They Never Saw it Coming
-
-
Level 5th
Bab +5
Fort +1
Ref +4
Will +1
Ranged Master +15 ft, Biodiversity
-
-
Level 6th
Bab +6
Fort +2
Ref +5
Will +2
Death Shot +1d8 +3d4, Alakazam
Spells 2 - - -
Spells/day 1 - - -
Level 7th
Bab +7
Fort +2
Ref +5
Will +2
Ranged Master + 20 ft, I Always Hit My Mark (Buff)
Spells 2 - - -
Spells/day 1 - - -
8th
+8
Fort +2
Ref +6
Will +2
Death Shot +1d8 +4d4, Silent Assassin
Spells 3 - - -
Spells/day 2 - - -
Level 9th
Bab +9
Fort +3
Ref +6
Will +3
Ranged Master buff +25 ft, One Shot One Kill
Spells 3 1 - -
Spells/day 2 1 - -
Level 10th
Bab +10
Fort +3
Ref +7
Will+3
Death Shot +1d8 +5d4, Watching You
Spells 4 2 - -
Spells/day 3 1 - -
Level 11th
Bab+11
Fort +3
Ref +7
Will+3
Ranged Master +30 ft, Wait for It...
Spells 4 2 - -
Spells/day 3 2 - -
Level 12th
Bab +12
Fort +4
Ref +8
Will +4
Death Shot +1d8 +6d4, The Voices Aren’t in My Head, Silent Assassin Buff
Spells 4 2 1 -
Spells/day 3 2 1 -
Level 13th
Bab +13
Fort +4
Ref +8
Will +4
Ranged Master + 35 ft, I See You
Spells 4 3 1 -
Spells/day 4 2 1 -
Level 14th
Bab +14
Fort +4
Ref +9
Will+4
Death Shot +1d8 +7d4, I Always Hit My Mark (2nd Buff)
Spells 4 3 2 -
Spells/day 4 3 1 -
Level 15th
Bab +15
Fort +5
Ref +9
Will+5
Ranged Master +40 ft, Stalker
Spells 4 3 2 1
Spells/day 4 3 1 1
Level 16th
Bab+16
Fort +5
Ref +10
Will +5
Death Shot +1d8 +8d4, Watching You (Buff)
Spells 4 4 2 2
Spells/day 4 3 2 1
Level 17th
Bab +17
Fort +5
Ref +10
Will +5
Ranged Master +45 ft, Nimble
Spells 4 4 3 2
Spells/day 4 4 2 1
Level 18th
Bab +18
Fort +6
Ref +11
Will +6
Death Shot +1d8 +9d4, Overwatch, Silent Assassin Buff
Spells 4 4 3 3
Spells/day 4 4 2 2
Level 19th
Bab +19
Fort +6
Ref +11
Will +6
Ranged Master +50 ft, Otherworldly Senses
Spells 4 4 4 3
Spells/day 4 4 3 2
Level 20th
Bab +20
Fort +6
Ref +12
Will +6
Death Shot +10d4, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Silent Assassin Buff
Spells 4 4 4 4
Spells/day 4 4 3 3
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Snipers are proficient with all ranged weapons, and light armour.
Vulnerable: While a sniper is ‘charging up’, that sniper is flat-footed. If a sniper is interrupted during this time, they must succeed a DC 10 + damage taken concentration check, where your caster level is your sniper level.
Specialised: When using a melee attack, sniper’s Base Attack Bonus is quartered.
Ranged Master: A sniper chooses one type of ranged weapon. This becomes their favoured weapon. When attacking with a favoured weapon, its range is increased by 5 feet, +5 feet for every two sniper levels. You gain an additional bonus to your range equal to your dex modifier x 5 feet. At level 9, a sniper’s chosen weapon gains a +1 to its crit range.
I Always Hit My Mark (EX): A sniper may take a full round action to add a +4 bonus to their roll to hit on their next attack. At level 7, this reduces to a move action, then a swift action at level 14. This can not stack unless another feature states so. The period between this action and the next attack counts as a ‘charge up’.
Death Shot (EX): A sniper may take a full round action to deal an extra 1d8 of damage on their next attack. This is a charge up and may not be stacked. Every two levels, this bonus damage deals an extra 1d4.
Expertise: At level 3, snipers gain weapon focus with their favoured weapon.
They Never Saw it Coming (EX): At level 4, a sniper may add their sniper level to their stealth check while being still.
Biodiversity: Starting from level 5, snipers gain a ‘sniper trait’ every two levels, some of which have prerequisites. They are listed below.
Always Ready (Ex): A sniper who has this ability gains the Quick Draw feat. If you already have Quick Draw, this ability does nothing. This trait requires a Dex score of 14 or higher.
Antisocial (Ex): A sniper who has this trait gets +5 feet to their base speed, and may increase their base speed by 20 feet for 1 round 2/day
Climber: A sniper with this trait gains a +2 bonus on acrobatics and climb checks.
Focus on the Job: Snipers who have this trait get a +2 bonus on concentration checks.
Gunslinger: A sniper who possesses this trait can have one additional favoured weapon. This gains all the bonuses from class features that specifically mention the snipers favoured weapon. This trait requires a BAB of 7 or higher.
High Ground (EX): Snipers with this trait are granted a +2 bonus on rolls to hit while above the target. This trait needs the possession of a BAB of 7 or higher.
I’m not Crazy, Just Homicidal (EX): Snipers with this trait get a +2 bonus on their concentration and will saves for 3 rounds after they knock out or kill a creature.
Can’t Catch Me (EX): If a sniper with this trait is attacked during a ‘charge up’, you may roll a DC attacker’s roll to hit reflex save to be not counted as flat-footed. If you already have nimble, you get a +2 on these saves. You require a BAB of 11 favoured weapons and another 10ft at level 15.
Sneaky: Snipers who have obtained this trait gain a +2 on stealth checks.
Stacker (EX): Once you have this trait, you may stack your charge ups of the same kind once more. This stacks with other abilities that grant this power. You need a BAB of 9 or higher to have this trait.
Swift Sniper: Snipers who have this get a +2 bonus on reflex saves.
Watchful: Snipers with this trait get a +2 bonus on perception checks.
Alakazam: Snipers of level 6 gain access to sniper spells as according to the table. You require an intelligence score equal or higher than 10 + the spell level to cast a spell of that level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a sniper’s spell is 10 + spell level + the sniper’s Intelligence modifier
Silent Assassin: At level 8 a sniper becomes nearly silent when shooting their favoured weapon. The DC to hear their shots with their favoured weapon increases by 10. This increases by 5 at 13th level, level 18 and level 20.
One Shot One Kill (Ex): At level 9, a sniper can also spend a full round action to increase the crit modifier by one step. This is a ‘charge up’. You may never stack the effects of the charge up during this ability, even if you have ‘Wait for It..’ or ‘Stacker’.
Watching You (Ex): At level 10, snipers’ natural sight range increases by 50 feet. They also get a +2 bonus to perception checks. At level 16, this increases to 100 feet, and +4 on perception checks.
Wait For It…: At level 11, snipers can stack their charge ups up to two times. If you already have the ‘Stacker’ trait, you may stack each ability up to three times. Each ability has its own stack amount.
The Voices Aren’t In My Head: At level 12, while a sniper is using their favoured weapon, they gain a +2 on attack rolls and +2 on will saving throws. However, if this item is lost, you get a -2 penalty on will saves until you replace this weapon with one of the same type.
I See You (Ex): At level 13, snipers gain the ability to see through minor obscurations blocking sight, such as mist, dark, fog etc.
Stalker (Su): At level 15, snipers gain the ability to see through objects up to 100 feet away in any direction.
Nimble: At level 17, when attacked during a charge up, snipers may roll a reflex save to not be caught flat-footed. The DC of this reflex save is their roll to hit. If you already have the ‘Can’t Catch Me’ trait, you gain a +2 on these reflex saves.
Overwatch (Ex): At level 18, if any hostile creatures in your sight move in a way that would cause an AOO if you were next to them, you may attack them with a -5 penalty to hit. This is an AOO
Otherworldly Senses (Su): At level 19, snipers gain blindsense 100ft, as well as a + 5 on perception checks.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Sp): At level 20, snipers gain the ability to ignore all obstacles while attacking with a ranged weapon.
Spells
Level 1
Jump
Longstrider
Magic Weapon
Obscuring Mist
Sanctuary
Level 2
Blink
Fog Cloud
Guidance
Magic Weapon Greater
Nondetection
Spider Climb
Level 3
Detect Scrying
Displacement
Invisibility
Locate Creature
Mage Armour
Scrying
True Seeing
Level 4
Invisibility Greater
Mage’s Faithful Hound
Mage’s Private Sanctum
Mirror Image
Prying Eyes
Sending
Telepathic Bond
I don't think I missed anything in that.
Sorry if some parts don't make sense. My friend edited some parts, so if it's inconsistent, I apologise. I'll try to fix it.
Going top down
First please work on formatting a bit. A table similiar to the books is easy to make and much easier to read. Also a blank line between spell levels and class abilities
Concentration checks- you never specify what happens if you break concentration.
Specialized should probably only be halved BAB. For a full ranged attacker class its not much of a hindrance but even wizards get 1/2lv to melee attacks
Expertise- bonus feats make sense on a martial class. In this case precise shot at lv1 would make more sense. Perhaps with the ability to be treated as having point blank shot for perquisites
They never saw it coming- change this to a bonus on stealth checks made to snipe. Perhaps also give them the option to get the stealth skill unlock
Biodiversity- these are all over the place in terms of power
Alakazam- any particular reason not to follow the paladin spell advancement?
Watching you- rather than increasing vision range which I'm not even sure has a game effect, decrease penalties on perception checks from that amount of distance
Spells- you probably need to normalize your spell levels with other classes. True seeing is not a 3rd level spell and mirror image is not a 4th. Powerful spells being early access was one of the biggest issues with chained summoner. Also you end up dealing with things like cheesy super cheap crafting and spell poaching. Late spell access is fine as a balancing tool but 2 levels is quite harsh. Also late spell access is much more punishing on a lv4 caster than any other advancement
Going top down
First please work on formatting a bit. A table similiar to the books is easy to make and much easier to read. Also a blank line between spell levels and class abilities
Concentration checks- you never specify what happens if you break concentration.
Specialized should probably only be halved BAB. For a full ranged attacker class its not much of a hindrance but even wizards get 1/2lv to melee attacks
Expertise- bonus feats make sense on a martial class. In this case precise shot at lv1 would make more sense. Perhaps with the ability to be treated as having point blank shot for perquisites
They never saw it coming- change this to a bonus on stealth checks made to snipe. Perhaps also give them the option to get the stealth skill unlock
Biodiversity- these are all over the place in terms of power
Alakazam- any particular reason not to follow the paladin spell advancement?
Watching you- rather than increasing vision range which I'm not even sure has a game effect, decrease penalties on perception checks from that amount of distance
Spells- you probably need to normalize your spell levels with other classes. True seeing is not a 3rd level spell and mirror image is not a 4th. Powerful spells being early access was one of the biggest issues with chained summoner. Also you end up dealing with things like cheesy super cheap crafting and spell poaching. Late spell access is fine as a balancing tool but 2 levels is quite harsh. Also late spell access is much more punishing on a lv4 caster than any other advancement
Sorry about the format, the original had a table in google docs, but that doesn't work here. I'll try to upload the link. Thanks for your advice, I was making this at night, then following the class making guide on the 20 website thing.
Flagged this thread. It should be in the homebrew forums.
Here's the information collated and with a table.
Going top down
First please work on formatting a bit. A table similiar to the books is easy to make and much easier to read. Also a blank line between spell levels and class abilities
Concentration checks- you never specify what happens if you break concentration.
Specialized should probably only be halved BAB. For a full ranged attacker class its not much of a hindrance but even wizards get 1/2lv to melee attacks
Expertise- bonus feats make sense on a martial class. In this case precise shot at lv1 would make more sense. Perhaps with the ability to be treated as having point blank shot for perquisites
They never saw it coming- change this to a bonus on stealth checks made to snipe. Perhaps also give them the option to get the stealth skill unlock
Biodiversity- these are all over the place in terms of power
Alakazam- any particular reason not to follow the paladin spell advancement?
Watching you- rather than increasing vision range which I'm not even sure has a game effect, decrease penalties on perception checks from that amount of distance
Spells- you probably need to normalize your spell levels with other classes. True seeing is not a 3rd level spell and mirror image is not a 4th. Powerful spells being early access was one of the biggest issues with chained summoner. Also you end up dealing with things like cheesy super cheap crafting and spell poaching. Late spell access is fine as a balancing tool but 2 levels is quite harsh. Also late spell access is much more punishing on a lv4 caster than any other advancement
Agreed on all accounts.
Thanks buddy.
Flagged this thread. It should be in the homebrew forums.
Here's the information collated and with a table.
Going top down
First please work on formatting a bit. A table similiar to the books is easy to make and much easier to read. Also a blank line between spell levels and class abilities
Concentration checks- you never specify what happens if you break concentration.
Specialized should probably only be halved BAB. For a full ranged attacker class its not much of a hindrance but even wizards get 1/2lv to melee attacks
Expertise- bonus feats make sense on a martial class. In this case precise shot at lv1 would make more sense. Perhaps with the ability to be treated as having point blank shot for perquisites
They never saw it coming- change this to a bonus on stealth checks made to snipe. Perhaps also give them the option to get the stealth skill unlock
Biodiversity- these are all over the place in terms of power
Alakazam- any particular reason not to follow the paladin spell advancement?
Watching you- rather than increasing vision range which I'm not even sure has a game effect, decrease penalties on perception checks from that amount of distance
Spells- you probably need to normalize your spell levels with other classes. True seeing is not a 3rd level spell and mirror image is not a 4th. Powerful spells being early access was one of the biggest issues with chained summoner. Also you end up dealing with things like cheesy super cheap crafting and spell poaching. Late spell access is fine as a balancing tool but 2 levels is quite harsh. Also late spell access is much more punishing on a lv4 caster than any other advancement
Agreed on all accounts.