There isn’t a whole ton you can do from within the game about the sort of players who choose what they roll. Eventually, some of them grow up. Last thing you want to do is just accept that they’re gonna cheat and adjust encounters accordingly.
I’d ask everyone to roll physical dice, in the open, and keep your own copies of everyone’s character sheets so you know when things don’t add up.
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FYI the iPad Hero lab portfolio works perfectly fine on any device with hero lab so ask him for his portfolio.
I think that Deflect Arrows and Cut From the Air might make things interesting.
His first shot (at his highest bonus) is deflected automatically, while the rest are blocked with AoO rolls. While it might not get rid of every shot, but it could help. And since they are AoOs, the attack bonus of each subsequent AoO doesn't go down while the archer's attack roll does.
Entropic Shield and Warp Wood are low level spells that could help as well.
Good luck!
Have mobs rush at him? He PROBABLY doesn't have the feat that allows him to shoot at melee.
Don't use Humans/Undead enemies as often?
Sunder his bow?(Unless he has a spare bow you're basically telling him to sit out of play in combat)
Use buffs other than AC to determine hit/miss? Like Blur, Mirror Image and Displacement.
Play around cover.
Get some DR on those mobs. It should take a lot from those arrows.Also Piercing Resistance/Immunity?
Okay, I wrote all that before the edit.
One is really different than the other.
Ask him to have the same sheet as other people, and to also roll physical dice? I don't use Hero Lab but surely he can just print a PDF and send you every time there is a significant change.
I don't think you should call him out for cheating just because of that, because I can definitely see those numbers with a "pure" archer build. They're probably the strongest DPS wise, if you can keep full attacking away.
2d6+8 seems low also. I just created a basic level 10 ranger archer, 20 point buy and against favored enemy it would be 2d6+18 per arrow, and 4 arrows per round.
This also assumes no other buffs from the party.
If we’re just looking for ways to counter archery, wind wall and it’s higher level variants work well enough.
Having enemies who engage the backline in melee would also work, especially if they’re pounce-n-grapple monsters.
But if the player’s cheating, then that needs to be resolved. If they aren’t mature enough to stappit when confronted, then no in game thing will work to bring them back in line with the other players.
EDIT
2d6+8 seems low also. I just created a basic level 10 ranger archer, 20 point buy and against favored enemy it would be 2d6+18 per arrow, and 4 arrows per round.
I thought the same thing when I read the OP. The ranger’s damage struck me as particularly funny because I just came from a thread where someone had built a level eight paladin who could deal more than four hundred damage in one round to an enemy with a low will save.
But different groups play at different levels of optimization. What’s important is that everyone in the group is on the same level.
What Toblakai said.
My core only Fighter archer hits for 1d8+11, 4 arrows at level 6. Which is about the same what your ranger is hitting if my math checks out.
Have mobs rush at him? He PROBABLY doesn't have the feat that allows him to shoot at melee.
He could/should have this.
Don't use Humans/Undead enemies as often?
Level 10 ranger, Instant enemy spell makes this moot.
Sunder his bow?(Unless he has a spare bow you're basically telling him to sit out of play in combat)
This is just rude to do to a player. Maybe once in a long while.
Use buffs other than AC to determine hit/miss? Like Blur, Mirror Image and Displacement.
Play around cover.
Improved precise shot will eliminate the usefulness of blur, cover and displacement.
Get some DR on those mobs. It should take a lot from those arrows.Also Piercing Resistance/Immunity?
Clustered shots feat, blunt arrows, cold iron arrows/etc.
He just announces the damage? How does he know whether or not he hit? I mean, you can figure out enemies’ AC’s as the battle progresses but this was the first round. Also, 2d6+8 x 4 is MAX 80 points. Where did the other 26 points come from and does he always roll all box cars??
He needs to roll where others can see it using a method understood and approved by you, the GM—none of this “ring-thing” business until it makes sense to you. He also needs to give you a copy of his character sheet. These are pretty much non-negotiable entrance requirements for any player wanting to play an RPG, much like people wanting to participate in other games must weigh in before their fight, have regulation sized pads in hockey or pee in a cup to be checked for PE drugs. If he can’t show you his character or roll in the open, he can’t play.
Note that archers are badass in PF. He will still likely mop the floor with your bad guys after he stops with the mysteriously successful rolling but at least you will understand how he’s doing it. I suspect you will enjoy things more when you are confident he’s not cheating, even if he continues to murderlize everything in sight.
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Crooked hallways = sad archers.
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as a GM it irks me when players dont have physical dice; in the interest of fairness, have all dice, including yours unless it's specifically supposed to be a secret roll, out in the open. Not only does it help prevent cheating, but when those rolls really matter, having everyone simultaneously see that nat 20 is a pretty fun moment.
Fickle winds and you problem is solved.
That said, make him send you a pdf version of his character and post it here. If there are any "mistakes" we will find them. Next use physical dice.
I had a player like that long ago who basically cheated on rolls (he would physically swoop down after they would stop and "read" the result.) As others have mentioned get his sheet and go over it again. Have him actually roll so you can check his numbers.
His 2d6+8 is pretty weak tbh. I have a lvl 10 inquisitor that is typically hitting with 1d8+17+1d6 at 22/22/17...with bane 1d8+19+1d6+2d6 ...with clustered shot. A seeking longbow, deliquescent gloves, pheromone arrows, silver nocking point, swarmbane clasp not to mention a animal companion that isn't much further behind...Sorry basically the point is it could be worse and yes archers are very nasty. I think you could put some limits but that should be exceptions and not the rule. I think the attitude and cheating are the main problem.
This is the type of character I would leave a table for as a player (and I did not too long ago). Too much needs to be solved and if the GM can't moderate it, and the other players don't want to moderate it, then that in and of it self would just have me as GM, kick the player.
That said, solving the issue comes with steps. Personally, I do keep my Pathfinder characters digitally because I really like the app Pathfinder CS. It's bare bones so you have to do everything yourself but it's nice I can put the whole paragraph from a feat or ability with that ability and saves time referencing things. I do share this with my GM at all times however. If asked I present my copy with the full paragraphs and can even say what book they're from in most cases (sometimes I forget). I also use a digital spellbook app because again: full description without book need. I am always transparent though, even asking permission if I'm going outside of the core books for abilities (so campaign and player companion stuff is generally not organized with core, never 3rd party). I would recommend help fine tooth combing it for any numerical mistakes.
The d20 ring I've seen, and is a fun little trinket, as well there is nothing innately wrong with dice rollers. I used 2 different ones while playing Scion, a d10 WoD system because in the first third my dice pools were up and around 12 d10s, and in the late game would have gone as potentially high as in the 80s. I don't have 80d10, and don't expect the whole room combined would have had them. The Star Wars dice roller for Disney's various tabletop games (since they all use custom printed dice gor some reason) was good and cheap. Onyx Dice also released a first party roller for WoD games. I would trust these since first party. However, at that Scion table, there was transparency. Both those app use 3D dice so the GM can see, and hear whenever I roll and come and see the results if he needed. My GMs generally find me super trustworthy though so it rarely happens.
Which lead to the third problem of either blatant repeated mistakes, or flat out lying. I dealt with this a little while back on my Starfinder table. A player made some mistakes at character gen (not enough skill points, and didn't realize there was a level cap, also in Pathfinder thought you got level 2 spells at character level 2 on an Alchemist, honest mistakes for a first timer), which screwed results. We managed to fix it but found on top of that he was fudging dice rolls. The same scoop up to "read" as mentioned earlier in the thread. He was caught by multiple players and for tge mist part we had decided if it didn't hurt anyone and we were all having fun than who cares? Then it started hurting people, making other characters redundant due to cheated highs that couldn't be achieved, and pulling everyone into it with Starship combat since he was the pilot. We ttied to come up with ways to curb the behaviour without calling it out, but in the end it's what we had to do. He's rolled out in the open where we can see it since.
So you've got three major problems to tackle, and a player I imagine is as Alpha gamer who demands every advantage he was entitled to (I'm gonna guess rolled stats and counting anything published anywhere on PFSRD as legal). Personally as said, I would have kicked him, because these behaviors take game away from the other players. I would also talk to the other players privately and see what they think. Have the one sitting next to him be eyes and ears and see if they can spot points where he's lying about boosts or rolls, because if you have evidence it's harder for him to backpedal out of.
Primarily things need to be fun. If he's selfishly taking the fun for himself others will not, and like I did my other table with a similar issue, will simply leave to find a table where they will have fun.
Just a note on the physical dice: make sure they are readable. Not just to prevent the "oh i have to pick them up to read them so I can say what I want," but also so that other people can read them from across the table. I've outright called player's on their bonuses before. I either learn something new or caught them lying.
I've mostly skimmed this thread, so forgive me if this has been stated already, but speaking to the group about the culture you want might help. Talking about how it is a game with ups and downs, how failure due to dice rolls sucks, but is part of the game, etc. etc. If they are a prolific "Alpha Gamer" I doubt it will do anything, but at least the entire group has the opportunity to be on the same page and you can address concerns with players when they break these expectations.
I would like to super emphasize Meirril's list, Slim Jim's suggestion of crooked hallways, and requesting to actually be told the attack rolls.
Level 10 ranger, Instant enemy spell makes this moot.
He isn't a level 10 ranger. He's a multiclass wizard/arcane archer/ranger that's level 10 total, so no Instant Enemy yet.
He gets 2 Combat Style feats and 5 feats for the odd levels.(also not a human)
Point Blank Shot/Precise Shot(combat style)/Weapon Focus/Rapid Shot/Point Blank Master(combat style)/Manyshot/Deadly Aim(Or Clustered Shots I guess).
Weapon Focus is a requirement for a Ranger to pick Point Blank Master as his combat style feat.
Improved Precise Shot requires +11 BAB, he can pick that instead of Point Blank Master I guess. We do really need his character sheet, otherwise we can only guess. But he can't have both Point Blank Master AND Improved Precise Shot for now.
He can't skip Weapon Focus, Point Blank Shot or Precise Shot anyway, if he picked Arcane Archer, so what I said should be close enough for his feats.
If you can pick his character sheet, we can go through it, but outside of that we can only speculate what he's got, but what everyone else has said about it should be good enough.
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An 'OP' character is really only a problem if the rest of the party isn't able to contribute (or feels that they can't contribute). You don't mention anything about the other players and how they feel. Without that part of the equation, good advise is hard to give. If the problem is just you wanting the fights to last longer, you can always just increase the HP of your bad guys.
The bigger issue I see is that you say "I'm fairly certain he's cheating his ass off" even though you also say "I have no clue if he's cheating or not." Trust between a player and a GM is important, and you not trusting him is going to color all of your interactions and spoil the game. You probably either need to fix this, ask him to leave the game or end the game (to preserve a friendship that gaming has begun to spoil).
There are several ways you could go about doing this. Figuring out how a character is put together shouldn't have anything at all to do with the software used for it. Every player should provide you with a physical or digital copy of their character sheet and you should know how each character is built and what all the abilities do (this also lets you confirm that they are all built properly.) Having everyone use physical dice rolled in the open is also a reasonable option.
I also think an actual conversation is warranted. You should speak to the player privately, expressing that some of the numbers he has called out have been higher than you expected and that you are worried that this has led you to GM as an adversary rather than a neutral arbitrator of the world. Apologize for this, and also ask his opinion on the best way, moving forward, for you to clearly understand where the values he gets are coming from so you don't feel that way. Their is no margin in accusing him of anything, and I strongly suggest you don't, the point of the conversation is to diffuse past negative interactions and trying to get him actively part of finding a solution.
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Assuming they're not actually cheating...
Let me tell you a story. I am currently playing a 6th level archer Warpriest in Rise of the Runelords. Without ANY circumstantial buffs (spells, items and so on), I can fire 3 arrows with +15 to hit for 2d6 + 11 damage each (average 54 damage per round). With a single round of buffs, I can consistently fire 4 arrows with +20 to hit, dealing 2d6 + 15 damage each (average 88 damamge). If I really need to go all out and I have time to buff, I can get to shoot 4 arrows with +29 to hit and 4d6 + 23 damage each, you do the math this time.
3 out of the 4 remaining party members were relatively new when they joined the game, and their characters have been so far largely not optimized. Needless to say, both them and GM have been continuously complaining about my character, saying that it was OP. Tired of having to listen to them, I explicitly asked them to tell me WHICH elements of my build they considered OP, so that I could change them in whatever they deemed suitable (and I was ready to change practically everything). Yet, for some reason, they didn't accept my invitation.
After complaining online, my GM learned that RotR is notably "easy" if played by the book, and that it is supposed to be beefed up if you're looking for challenge. At the same time, two players changed their characters for unrelated reasons, and thanks to the real-life experience they gained by playing so far, they managed to build much better characters. First round of combat, one of them dished out more than 60 points of damage, and the other wasn't less impressive. The players were so surprised about their own characters they couldn't believe it.
Suddenly, my archer was not OP anymore. And yet, I hadn't done anything different.
Conclusion: there's no such thing as an OP character, only inexperienced players and GMs. Accusing your friend to be a cheater or making them feel like they're doing something wrong for just being playing a game successfully is extremely rude, at best. If you're the GM, be more creative with your tools: walls, trees, wind, multiple targets, DR, soft cover, grapple, disarm, trip, limited buffing time are all easy and yet reasonable countermeasures for an archer. If you're a player, ask yourself why is you character so inefficient and what can you do to improve it.
Yet another option is simply to ask the player to tone his character down. I would be very happy to do so, as long as the GM is willing to help me out to pinpoint the problem and not simply say "it's too stronk".
In case they are indeed cheating...
First of all be sure it is actually the case. Look at their sheet, pay attention to bonus types and conditional bonuses and penalties. Write down yourself a table with the total attack and damage modifiers in the most common scenarios, so that you don't have to constantly ask your player.
If you find an inconsistency, point it out so that they know: everyone can make a mistake. Feel free to ask advice online if you're not sure about an option being legit or not (if you have doubts, write them down here, maybe I can help you).
If, after having done all of this, it turns out they are really cheating, ask them why and to stop.
He could always be a full wizard and end combat before it starts. Surely your adventures are more than combat so give the other party members their time to shine and maybe have less magic bows in treasure chests.
Level 10 ranger, Instant enemy spell makes this moot.He isn't a level 10 ranger. He's a multiclass wizard/arcane archer/ranger that's level 10 total, so no Instant Enemy yet.
He's got a couple levels in Wizard, for Gravity Bow. A couple levels in Arcane Archer, so that every nonmagical arrow he fires ignores defenses like Protection from Normal missiles. And he's got lots of levels in ranger, with species enemy of either Humans (he's elven,) or Undead, guaranteeing he'll almost always have +2 at least in bonus accuracy and damage.
He gets 2 Combat Style feats and 5 feats for the odd levels.(also not a human)
He is likely Ranger 6/Wizard 2/Arcane Archer 2.
Avg HP = 6d10 + 2d6 + 2d10 + con & favored class bonuses = 51 + con + fcbHe must be Ranger 5 for two favored enemies.
Ranger 6 only gets 1st level spells.
Ranger 6 gets a combat feat.
His BAB is at best 9 before stats, feats, spells, and items.
/cevah