Sharpshooter Thief Kit

[mTk]

Yeah, -1 con, not dex... but it might be a bad idea after all.

Have to admit those limitations are mostly there just to balance some of those advantages (remember non-good PC gets a starting reputation penalty).

 

Anyway... shot from the shadows turns user invisible? I fail to see the logic here. Now, aren't you already supposed to be invisible when you are "at shadows"?

Also, that poison weapon thing is a must to have. Must! Must! Must!

 

Here's one suggestion for 'Shot from the shadows' (abilities are cumulative):

1st lev: +2 thac0, +5 damage

5st lev: +3 thac0, +5 damage

9th lev: weapon is poisoned

13th lev: better poison, +5 damage

17th lev: after 4s user becomes invisible

 

OK... so, what we have here is a heavily handicapped archer who can use some thieving skills. It doesn't sound quite promising to me.

If someone could figure out how to make that "ranged backstab" without having to use any innate abilities, someone could actually use it.

[Andyr]

Yeh, the Shot from the Shadows ability would make you invisible and give you a bonus to your next strike. A lot easier than the person having to be invisible to use the ability - remember, casting or attacking while invisible breaks the invisibility, so there'd be trouble even selecting it!

 

As I mentioned to SixOfSpades previously, I am concerned at potential overpoweredness. The kit should be of the same power as the base class - not much, much better.

[mTk]

Mmm... in my opinion not using that "only usable while hidden" trick disables the only nice and theme-fitting thing in the whole kit.

Oh, and btw, I _did_ make innate ability that required being invisible and sure it didn't break it.

Of course, if someone could solve that ranged backstab I'm whining about, a regular Called shot type ability could do just fine (hint! hint!)

[Andyr]

Actually, thinking about it, I think there is maybe a flag to not break invisibility while using a specific spell. How did you make the ability require the user to be invisible?

[mTk]

I told you to make notes in IRC!

 

Well, in a nutshell, the special ability does nothing but set a global variable. Some script in baldur.bcs then checks if the var is 1, checks insibility and continues from there...

 

Of course this isn't very economical for the cpu, but there is no other way I'm aware of.

[Andyr]

<Andyr> I was thinking some more about the Sharpshooter. I reckon this:

<Andyr> Advantages-

<Andyr> Can get Mastery w/ missile weapons/

<Andyr> Assassin's Poison Weapon one per day per 5 levels, or however often the assassin gets it, only applying to missile attacks

<Andyr> Disadvantages-

<Andyr> No backstab.

<Andyr> That is all.

<BevH> I've got no gripe against no backstab. I can't seem to figure out how to get it to work anyway.

<Andyr> heheh

<CamDawg> Can you limit poison to only missile weapons?

<Andyr> I had a look at the spell, it applies an eff to missile and melee attacks separately.

<Andyr> so I can COPY_EXISTING and WRITE the melee chances to 0%.

<CamDawg> Coolies.

[Andyr]

Version 2 is now available! This is the Windows DL link:

 

edit: Sharpshooter is now part of Song & Silence; go get that.

 

And the description:

 

SHARPSHOOTER: This sort of thief tends to be a stealthy character, preferring to engage their target from afar with bolt or arrow rather than face them in dangerous melee combat. Unlike the ranger, they use their skills to aid their dubious activities involving the property and lives of others rather than the protection of the great outdoors.

 

Although well - versed in the use of many missile weapons, the sharpshooter is not as resilient as a true warrior and the propensity for missile attacks over melee means that they lack the opportunism of other thieves when it comes to backstabbing. They tend not to see this as a disadvantage, instead striking from the shadows with a well - aimed projectile, or setting a deadly trap for those who would follow, when necessary.

 

Advantages:

- Can attain Mastery in any missile weapon a Thief can use

- May coat his missile weapon in poison once per day per 4 levels. The next hit with that weapon will inject the poison into the target, dealing out 1 damage per second for 24 seconds (3 damage for the first 6 seconds). A saving throw vs. poison limits damage to 12 total.

 

Disadvantages:

- No backstab multiplier

[mTk]

Me no satisfied! Me will dig up mi buggy goo and me do mi own stuff!

 

It's not exactly what I expected. Well, you can't please everyone... guess I'll make an NPC "when I have time". Thanks for listening the audience, btw!

[Andyr]

Well, I was concerned about the power. But if you want me to help you make a tougher version for your own use I'm sure you know where to find me...

 

I decided to go for these abilities as they fit a deadeye shot type of thief, who attacks from a distance to take down their foe.

[Maximize]

Can I just make a suggestion about the Sharpshooter? I've made suggestions similar to this one few times in the last few days...

 

I like the current state of the kit, very nice, very nice. But its name in the character generation screen reads "Sharpshooter." Whats the problem you say? It should read "SHARPSHOOTER" so that it fits in with the other kits.

 

Great work otherwise!

[Sharpie04]

Y'know, I'm a slow person, and I only got around to looking at this kit now. And I have to say, it looks really neat- I'm surprised no one's actually decided to make a thief kit before that focuses on ranged weapons, which would seems obvious, given the naturally large dex of most thieves.

 

So, yes. Yay for you, my friend. Yay for you.

[Andyr]

Maximize: I'll have a check when I get back home in a day or two, thanks for pointing this out!

 

Sharpie: Praise is always appreciated.

[Bren]

Andyr

 

FYI. I have had no problems at all with Sharpshooter and BG1NPCs. I've been using v2 with the latest release of BG1NPCs.

 

Love It!!

 

TTYL

 

Bren

 

EDIT: Just an update to this post.

 

Currently using v.3 with the latest Alpha I'm testing of BG1NPCs and it is doing fine also.

[Andyr]

Maximize: You are indeed correct, have fixed it locally. Since it's not that big a bug, though, I won't release an update just yet. Will do it when I have more free time.

 

Bren: Cool, thanks, I don't anticipate any issues with anything. Glad you're enjoying it!