BACKUP ARCHER "Death is like an arrow that is already in flight, and your life lasts only until it reaches you." A Teppo-Ka initially has some problems. It might be quicker and easier to learn a rifle than a bow, but the rifle loads a lot slower and has some issues. Hence the position of Backup Archers: groups of bowmen providing cover for the Teppo-Ka as he reloads his weapon.
BECOMING A BACKUP ARCHER Any Ashigaru sufficiently skilled with the bow will likely be asked to become a Backup Archer at some point.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Skills: Knowledge (War) 6 ranks, Spot 8 ranks
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
BAB: +6
Ki Abilities: Improved Point Blank Shot, Greater Precise Shot
Class Skills The Backup Archer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography, Local, Nobility & Royalty, War)(Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level : 4 + int
Hit Dice: d8
[b] BAB Fort Ref Will Abilities[/b]
1. +1 +2 +2 +0 Rapid Shot, Ki Pool
2. +2 +3 +3 +0 Shot of Opportunity
3. +3 +3 +3 +1 Precision
4. +4 +4 +4 +1 Rapid Shot
5. +5 +4 +4 +1 Shot of Opportunity
6. +6 +5 +5 +2 Precision
7. +7 +5 +5 +2 Rapid Shot
8. +8 +6 +6 +2 Shot of Opportunity
9. +9 +6 +6 +3 Precision
10.+10 +7 +7 +3 Master Archer
Weapon Proficiencies: A Backup Archer gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Ki Pool: The Backup Archer's class levels stack with his Ashigaru levels for purposes of determining how many times per day he can use his Ki Pool and for how many Ki Abilities he has learned. The Backup Archer also gains access to several Ki abilities not open to the Ashigaru (which will be detailed below).
Rapid Shot (Ex): At 1st level if you may Ready an Action to do double damage against a charging foe with a bow in addition to normal weapons that qualify.
At 3rd level if you attack an opponent who is Flat-Footed or Denied his Dexterity Bonus to AC and hit successfully you automatically threaten a critical.
At 6th level you may make iterative attacks with a bow like you would with a normal melee weapon.
Shot of Opportunity (Ex): At second level if you have a bow in hand, opponents provoke Attacks of Opportunity as if it were a melee weapon (meaning you can fire on them as an AoO). If you do this you still provoke an Attack of Opportunity from them as you are using a Ranged Weapon.
At 5th level the range at which an opponent can provoke an Attack of Opportunity from your bow is 10'. He only gets his Attack of Opportunity now if he has the appropriate Reach.
At 8th level the range increases to 15', and you no longer provoke an Attack of Opportunity for using the bow in this manner.
Precision (Ex): At 3rd level you begin to gain an almost supernatural aim with your bow of choice. You gain Improved Precise Shot as a Bonus Feat whether you meet the prerequisites or not.
At 6th level you may ignore up to x points of Armor or Natural Armor Bonus, where x equals your Backup Archer Level. For example if a 6th level Backup Archer fired on a Troll it could completely ignore his Natural Armor Bonus of +5. If it fired on a Troll Hunter (See MM page 247) it could ignore the +6 Natural Armor Bonus or the +5 Armor Bonus, but not both.
At 9th level if your opponent is within 30' your Ranged attacks with your bow are considered touch attacks.
Master Archer (Ex): At 10th level all Ranged Attacks made with your bow threaten a critical on a natural 18-20 (This does not stack with other spells or effects that increase critical threat range). The range you may make touch attacks with your bow is increased to 60'.
PLAYING A BACKUP ARCHER Your goal is to protect the artillery and gunfighters on your side, and incidentally to wreak as much havoc on the opposing sides infantry/cavalry as you can. Since you provide cover fire, you'll be excelling at sending out arrows as fast as possible as opposed to taking careful aim. Well usually anyway. You're still professional enough to take a shot if you can off someone important by doing so.
Combat: Initially your purpose is to help fire massive volleys of arrows at charging infantry and cavalry to devastate them. At some point this changes to you protecting the Teppo-Ka while he reloads to fire another volley. Speed at loosing arrows will have to be your forte.
Advancement: Much like any Ashigaru, your advancement depends largely on the whims of your Lord. Although in your case he'll probably want you to simply excel at archery.
Resources: Like the rest of the Ashigaru you are a professional military man, and can be equipped as your Lord desires. Your fortunes are pretty much linked to his.
BACKUP ARCHERS IN THE WORLD "Use your head, or somebody else might." You are treated much like any other professional soldier. You earn perhaps a bit less personal glory as you have not single handedly felled foes in a sword fight, but there are those who realize without your contributions the war effort would fail.
Daily Life: You spend your time drilling with the Teppo-Ka and the other archers preparing for war. Occasionally your Lord may have a mission for you, but if not you perform your regular job while keeping up your military training.
Notables:
Organizations: All Backup Archers belong to their Lord, much like any other Ashigaru. His household is the only organization they are supposed to belong to.
NPC Reaction As you spend more time training with a bow than a sword people feel more comfortable around you since they erroneously believe you are less likely to cause problems. It's kind of believed you have no skill at melee fighting.
BACKUP ARCHERS IN THE GAME This class assumes (like all Ashigaru PrC's) that you are a military man, and can be called up forcefully at any time. Work with the DM on this so it doesn't disrupt things (after all being the servant of a feudal warlord does saddle you with baggage, like extra enemies).
Adaptation: This is probably best for more serious campaigns given it's nature as a military class.
Encounters: Backup Archers are generally only really encountered in times of war. They do other things during peace time, so it's entirely possible to be working among them and not know it.
Sample Encounter EL 12: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.
NameLN Human Male Ashigaru 6/Backup Archer 6
Init +4,
Senses: Listen +5, Spot +9
Languages Common
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AC , touch , flat-footed (+4 Dex, )
hp 78 (12 HD)
Fort +11,
Ref +14,
Will +5
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Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee Base Atk +12,
Grp +14
Atk Options Blinding Strike, Nauseating Blow
Combat Gear-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 14, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
SQ Ki Pool 12/day,
Feats Far Shot, Rapid Shot, 4, Combat Reflexes (B), Formation Expert (B), Improved Precise Shot (B), Precise Shot (B)
Skills Climb +6, Concentration +9, Hide +8, Knowledge (Local, Nobility, War) +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +8, Search +6, Spot +9, Survival +5
PossessionsEPIC BACKUP ARCHER Hit Die: d8
Skills Points at Each Level : 4 + int
Bonus Feats: The Epic Backup Archer gains a Bonus Feat every 2 levels higher than 20th